Master thesis in and on architecture

16.00 credits

Language

French
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Main themes

This teaching unit, titled Dissertation IN and ON Architecture enables students to develop and present their dissertation. This unit is linked to the Research Workshops which are supervised.
Concluding the Master's degree in Architecture, the final dissertation is a piece of original work IN and ONarchitecture, linking project and theory and which develops an individual question which is part of a wider shared issue.
More specifically, the basic principles of the final dissertation are as follows:

The final dissertation marks the end of the Master's degree in Architecture.It concludes students' university training in Architecture by linking together what has been learned from all the teaching units. The final dissertation concludes all the learning from the two years of the Master's cycle. Students are prepared through teaching activities which progressively become more intense during the course: introduction, development, more advanced study and achievement.
The final dissertation is a piece of individual and original work. In parallel with the research workshops which focus on collective supervision, students demonstrate their ability to bring things together: they do their dissertation individually and contribute to the production of new knowledge on the topic being studied.
The final dissertation is a unique piece of work in and on architecture. By bringing together all the units from the course, students develop a piece of work which is both practical and critical. The conjunction of both elements is central.
The final dissertation links the project with theory of the discipline.It must be made up of two interacting yet inseparable parts so that, if each of them has value in itself, they also confer validity on each other. Students develop their final dissertation though a process of planning and a process of action. The link between these two processes is central, although the importance of each may vary from one piece of work to another according to the subject being studied or the method used.
The final dissertation develops an individual question which is part of a wider shared issue. The final dissertation comes from the conjunction of a question asked and a question to be asked. On one hand, a supervisory panel directs the work and defines the shared issue (a topic or a site) while, on the other hand, students make use of this framework to select an individual topic which they wish to develop independently.
The final dissertation showcases the acquisition of skills associated with the profile of a graduate. Students demonstrate the profile of a graduate by fulfilling the nine points of the learning outcomes reference framework: designing a project, testing a creative procedure, gaining wide knowledge of architecture, siting their action, seeking other disciplines, gain skills in the technical dimension, express, represent and communicate an architectural approach, adopt an professional attitude and make committed choices.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

This activity brings to an end the whole course. Having completed it, students are able to develop independently the approach of an architect by means of a piece of work which brings all their knowledge together. The dissertation combines all nine dimensions of the learning outcomes reference framework.
Design a project

When faced with a complex question of architecture, to choose, analyse and bring together various component elements of an emerging reality. From this, to formulate hypotheses to use when choosing how best to reshape space.

Test an artistic approach

Faced with a given situation, to imagine and implement an idea capable of triggering a process of questioning

Build knowledge of architecture

Be familiar with and understand written, drawn or built references which form the foundation of the discipline

Place the action

Observe, analyse and interpret with rigour the various material, social, cultural components of the prevailing situation in which the thinking is elaborated. Show the potential of this situation through the impact of the architectural project.

Make use of other subjects

To be curious and adopt a cross-disciplinary approach to consolidate the basis of what has been learnt

Express an architectural procedure

Use traditional and artistic methods to explore, discover, design, reveal a reality, a design or a project

Adopt a professional attitude

Act as an aware player, ready to test out interaction with the stakeholders in construction

Make committed choices

Demonstrate responsible engagement in a situation, with a thoughtful approach to issues of society and culture

Faculty or entity

LOCI

Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)

Title of the programme

Sigle

Credits

Prerequisites

Learning outcomes

Master [120] in Architecture (Tournai)

ARCT2M