Master of Architecture Cource Description
MARC 1311 - Socioecological transition, climate responsiveness and circular metabolism – 3
Cr. (3,0)
This course discusses the emergence of sustainability as a new normative value that guides the development of human societies. It stresses that institutions and social groups diverge in their understanding of sustainability and sustainable development. It introduces three frameworks that coexist today and have different interpretations of sustainability and what sustainable development should be about: transition, climate responsiveness and circularity. The courses stresses the implications of these frameworks on thinking the built environment, its design and its production processes.
Prerequisites: N/A
MARC 1321 - Principles of bioclimatic architecture – 3 Cr. (3,0)
This course discusses the concept of bioclimatic architecture and identifies it as a design approach in the field of architecture. It presents its principles and various design strategies that would allow to produce built environments adapted to particular climates and ecological ecosystems. These strategies focus on the relation of the building to the topographical and natural site and context, as well as on issues of lighting, shading, thermal comfort, energy, water and material consumption, biodiversity, materials’ toxicity, longevity and recyclability as well as the ecological impact in terms of pollution and greenhouse gases’ emissions.
Prerequisites: N/A
MARC 1331 - Buildings’ life cycle analysis – 3 Cr. (2,2)
This course assesses environmental impact of complex systems in technology and building processes based on a life-cycle perspective by giving theoretical and practical skills in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). It covers philosophy, techniques, applications, and standards of Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA). It discusses current popular LCA tools and practical exercises using software tools.
Prerequisites: N/A
MARC 1661 – Additional Support Module for Students with Interior Design Background – 6(2,8)
This course is an additional support module dedicated to the support of students with interior design background. It aims at providing a bridge that would help these students to cover some of the gaps in term of curriculum between a Bachelor of Interior Design and a Bachelor of Architecture. It is focused on a large-building project that would help students on buildings of such scale and complexity. It takes the form of a studio, with however two more lecture-based sub-modules: one on building’s science and the other on architectural theory. It is taken in the first semester and spreads on the whole duration of the semester.
MARC 1332 - Passive and Net-Zero Energy buildings: principles and tools – 3 Cr. (2,2)
This course introduces the importance of quantitative analysis in the design of low energy buildings. It focuses on principles, tools and techniques available for building energy analysis and apply all the techniques in design. Also, simulation is used in this course to analyze the thermal performance of a typical building. 3
Prerequisites: N/A
MARC 1333 - Sustainable construction technologies for green and bioclimatic architecture – 3 Cr. (3,0)
This course introduces advanced sustainable construction practices which include the selection of structural system, façade system, construction, and material performance. It presents and discusses the use of different traditional, sophisticated or unconventional materials and their performance in relation to structure, energy and climate.
Prerequisites: N/A
MARC 1334 - Indoor Environmental Quality – 3 Cr. (3,0)
This course relates human experience of buildings to the main dimensions of Indoor Environmental Quality: thermal, acoustic, lighting, and indoor pollution. It discusses Indoor environment theories and predictive models, post-occupancy evaluation (POE) tools.
Prerequisites: N/A
MARC 2341 - Capstone Research – 3 Cr. (3,0)
In this course, students mobilize methodologies, methods and tools to investigate a particular issue of relevance to their Capstone Project. In a synthetic document, they provide evidence based arguments in favor of proposed design choices. This course is set as a co-requisite for the Capstone Project Studio 1.
Prerequisites: students should have at least successfully finished all core courses in first year.
MARC 2442 - Capstone Project Studio 1 – 4 Cr. (1,6)
In these this course, students mobilize bioclimatic architecture design strategies and building technologies to provide solutions to an architectural design problem. It deals with the different steps of setting a project’s design strategy, including site analysis, program proposition, concept and schematic design approach.
Prerequisites: students should have at least successfully finished all core courses in first year.
MARC 2443 - Capstone Project Studio 2 – 4 Cr. (1,6)
It is the continuity of MARC 2442, it sets on developing the conceptual ideas and design strategy identified in this course. It includes the production of professional quality architectural drawings and outputs.
Prerequisites: MARC 2441 and MARC 2442
MARC 2451 - Internship – 4 Cr.
Students are required to fulfill at least the equivalent of 180 working hours of internship within a public, private or associative body, where they would have a chance to apply the knowledge and skills they learned on a real-life project or study. Prerequisites: students should have at least successfully finished all core courses in first year.
MARC 1335 - Buildings’ informatics – 3 Cr. (2,2)
This course focus on Organization and management of building information systems in the real estate and construction sector. It focusses on application of artificial intelligence, knowledge-based systems, IOT and other smart control technologies to ensure the health and wellbeing of the occupants and to operate building systems efficiency to make smart control decision. 4
MARC 1336 - Daylight in Buildings – 3 Cr. (2,2)
This course discusses the importance of daylight in architectural design and different design strategies and tools to introduce daylight within a building and control its presence. The course introduces students to simulation tools that could be used to optimize daylight within a building and that for different esthetic and practical purposes.
MARC 1352 - Construction Management – 3 Cr. (3,0)
The course focuses on the role of construction management in achieving overall project success. It explores procedures and organizational techniques involved in the preparation of competitive bids and schedules. The course discusses the various forms of contracts used in the construction industry and best practices for their administration and management. It explores stakeholder rights, duties, responsibilities, claims management and assignment of risk.
MARC 1312 - Selected Topics in Bioclimatic Architecture and Environmental Design – 3 Cr. (3,0)
This course is organized in a seminar format where different academia and professional speakers are invited to present conceptual, methodological or technological issues of relevance to a particular theme in bioclimatic architecture or ecological buildings to be explored in the semester when this course is offered.
MARC 1322 - Sustainable Buildings’ Certification Systems – 3 Cr. (3,0)
This course gives a large presentation of different international and regional certification systems (LEED, BREEAM, PASSIVHAUS, HQE, etc.) related to sustainable buildings. It discusses the main attributes of these systems and the differences between them. It then provides students with the necessary training and preparations to be able to apply for advanced LEED exams.
