The School of Architecture is devoted to professional education with a sensibility honed in the edge conditions of an extreme climate on a major international border. Located in the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the United States, the School combines a culturally rich past with cutting-edge environmental research in its place-based design approach to the arid environment.

The making of architecture is a sensible technical and aesthetic activity that serves the needs of human shelter.
The construction of shelter is an imaginative cultural research that enables dwelling as a fundamental human aspiration and means to a graceful life.
This pursuit must be inflected by place, the geography of colorado, and the culture of the Southwest.
The design for place must be influenced by a portable global sensibility, yet observant of local traditions, tempered by material circumstances, and expressive of the ethos of time and place.

The MS in architecture prepares students for research in the field of architecture, with emphasis in one of five areas of focus: 1) Design and Energy Conservation, 2) Heritage Conservation, 3) Emerging Building Technologies, 4) Urban Design, 5) Sustainable Market Transformation, 5) Health and the Built Environment.  Students take a minimum of 35 credits, and complete a core curriculum covering Research Methods, Fieldwork, Lab Analysis, Regulatory and Professional Building Standards, and Advancing Knowledge in Architecture.