Master of Science in Architecture in Health Design
The Master of Science in Architecture in Health Design (MSAHD) is a two-year program dedicated to reinventing the design of health delivery systems and environments in the age of globalization and pandemics. The School of Architecture understands the future of health to be an urban problem: from mega-scale hospital complexes that exist as surrogate downtowns and controlled interior cities; to proliferating retirement communities on what-used-to-be the periphery; to the emergency relief planning and rapid-response environments demanded by increasing natural and man-made disasters. As an alternative to technical and market-driven specialization, the program at UIC wagers that a significant contribution can be made to envisioning the future of health design by recovering, mutating, and extending institutional types from within the disciplinary mechanisms of architecture.
The program encourages applications from qualified students with a prior professional degree (BArch, MArch, or international equivalent) to address the architectural challenges and possibilities located at the intersection of health and the designed environment. The curriculum is centered on design with supporting courses taught by academic and practicing clinical faculty expert in the area. The curricular sequence is organized around four sites or scales with corresponding technical investigations: the individual body, the city, the architectural component, and global systems. Faculty and student teams will consider, among other issues:
* the future bodies and treatments that will need to be accommodated
due to advanced bio-research being conducted today
* the health complex as a new species of controlled interior urbanism
* the design and fabrication of non-standard elements, systems, and
environments
* the flows of energy and scarcity as organizers of architectural form and
material
In addition to the academic coursework and research (46 credit hours), students in the program benefit from active preceptorships with prominent representatives from Chicago-area design firms and members of the larger health community (7 credit hours).
Features of the MSAHD Program
Best Practices: Research studios and seminars study, analyze, synthesize, and critique Best Practices in health and architecture. Best Practices encompass programs, initiatives, or activities that are considered leading-edge or exceptional models in the discipline.
Preceptorships: Ongoing required preceptorships form mentoring relationships between each MSAHD student and a prominent individual working in Chicago metropolitan and regional health design firms and in the broader health community. The individual student's interests, career goals, and scheduling concerns help inform the pairing process. The Preceptorship is a critical part of the MSAHD program and lasts throughout the student's full-time or part-time course of study.
Rounds: Students have opportunities to experience the realities of healthcare delivery through participation in Medical Rounds at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, the largest Medical School in the nation, in the areas of Medicine, Surgery, Emergency Medicine, and Gynecology.
Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Studio Research initiatives bring together broad cross-campus resources from the College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the School of Public Health, and the College of Urban Planning & Public Affairs. Collaboration extends beyond the University of Illinois at Chicago campus to include interaction with the larger metropolitan network of state-of-the art hospitals and healthcare organizations, including: Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Children's Memorial Hospital, University of Illinois Medical Center, University of Chicago Hospital, Rush University Medical Center, and Advocate HealthCare.
Networking: Informal and formal opportunities for networking with fellow students, health care providers, architectural advisors, and members of the professional health design community are integral to this program. Our diverse and committed advisors include: Abbott Laboratories; Advocate HealthCare; Anderson Mikos Architects; BSA Lifestructures; Children's Memorial Hospital; Harley Ellis Devereaux; HDR; HOK; Illinois Department of Public Health; Loeb, Schlossman & Hackl; OWP&P; Perkins & Will; Rush University Medical Center; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; U.S. Equities; VOA; University of Chicago Hospitals; University of Illinois Medical Center.
Applying to the Program
If you have questions or simply want to discuss the program, feel free to contact William Worn, AIA, LEED AP, Associate Director for the Masters of Science in Health Design at wornb@uic.edu or Kristin Carey, Graduate Academic Advisor at kmcarey@uic.edu.
For application instructions please visit www.arch.uic.edu/admissions.
