Woven Identities of Japan

Debuting in the Houghton Gallery at Cooper Union, graduates of the Master of Architecture II Program will have their innovative 2011 thesis projects on display in "The Critical Moment: Architecture in the expanded field." The show, which is free, marks the first public viewing of the Master students' work. Without prescribed boundaries, the projects address a myriad of critical issues shaping today's architectural discourse, ranging from urban theory to the present condition of globalization and the continual emergence of new scientific developments and technologies. The exhibition illuminates the graduates' year-long extensive research using literature, photography, drawing, technology, history and urban studies to develop innovative programs, all of which feature configurations and narratives that bring forth potential solutions that may not be obvious to the viewer.

In 2009, the Master of Architecture (M.Arch. II) enrolled its first class and provides graduate students with an innovative approach and experience to a studio-based, design research post-professional degree. Open to applicants with a first professional degree in architecture, students are challenged to push the frontiers of design and form critical responses to modern and contemporary issues in the practice and theory of architecture.