The PhD in Architecture focuses on design-led research, is a natural extension of the Department’s MArch program, and responds to a demonstrated demand by our graduates for doctoral studies in this area. This 3 year program consists of two graded graduate courses/seminars and 3 pass/fail milestones It is the only doctoral program in Canada advancing architectural research on and through design. Students engage design as a mode of critical inquiry, knowledge production and transformative agency. The core component of this program is the design-driven dissertation, involving creative scholarship evaluated at important milestones including a creative project and design research proposal/candidacy exam.

These milestone projects and presentations serve as forums for experimentation, dissemination and interpretive feedback. Students are expected to articulate rigorous research questions in relation to relevant contextual, theoretical and/or historical frameworks; demonstrate meaningful innovation and reflective expertise in a defined area of study; and make original, significant and compelling contributions to disciplinary knowledge.