Ph.D. in Architecture

The Ph.D. in architecture is a research degree appropriate for those seeking careers in teaching and scholarship in architecture and its related areas, or in roles in government or professional consultation that require depth in specialization and experience in research.

Berkeley’s Ph.D. program in architecture is interdisciplinary in outlook, reaching into the various disciplines related to architecture and incorporating substantial knowledge from outside fields. Students admitted to this program carry out a program of advanced study and research, both on the basis of formal class work and of individual investigation. Work centers on three related fields of study, the major field (the basis for the dissertation), and one-to-two minor fields, at least one of which must be from a discipline outside architecture.

The Ph.D. degree emphasizes course work and supervised independent research in one of the following areas of study:

Major fields outside these fields or combinations thereof may also be proposed at the time of admission.

Course work is individually developed through consultation with an academic adviser. Outside fields of study may take advantage of the University’s varied resources. Recent graduates have completed outside fields in anthropology, art history, business administration, city and regional planning, computer science, various engineering fields, psychology, women’s studies, geography and sociology.

The following are members of the Ph.D faculty who oversee Ph.D. students in the Architecture Department. Please also review the current list of all faculty in the Architecture Department for other faculty and specialities. A sampling of faculty research is described on the faculty research projects page.

Gail S. Brager, Professor of Architecture
Passive Design Strategies, Comfort and Adaptation in Naturally-Ventilated Buildings, Post-Occupancy Evaluation and Personal Comfort Systems

Giovanni Betti, Assistant Professor of Architecture
Climate Adapted Building Design, High Performance Building Envelopes, Performance Based Design, Computational Design

Luisa Caldas, Professor of Architecture
Virtual and Augmented Reality, Immersive Environments, Collaborative Platforms in VR/AR, Sustainable Architecture, Net Zero Buildings, Daylighting in Architecture, Generative Design, Parametric Design

Maria Paz Gutierrez, Associate Professor of Architecture
Natural Materials Innovation and Flood Resilience, Engineered Living Materials, Functionally Graded Materials and Additive Manufacturing, and Solar Water Regeneration Building Envelopes

Stefano Schiavon, Associate Professor of Architecture and Civil and Environmental Engineering
Sustainable Architecture, Architectural Engineering/Building Science, Indoor Environment Quality, HVAC Systems, Building Energy Efficiency, Thermal Comfort, Wellbeing, Post-Occupancy Evaluation

Simon Schleicher, Associate Professor of Architecture
Lightweight Design and Biomimetics, Structural Design, Parametric Design, Digital Fabrication and Robotic Manufacturing

Greg Castillo, Professor of Architecture
20th Century Architecture with Emphasis on Bay Area Counterculture, Mid-Century Modernism, Design as Cold War Propaganda, Architecture and the History of Emotions.

Margaret Crawford, Professor of Architecture
History of Architecture, Urban Design and Planning, Urban History and Theory, US Built Environment Studies, Urbanism in China

C. Greig Crysler, Professor of Architecture
Architecture of Globalization, discourses of Architecture and Urbanism and the Arcus Chair in Gender, Sexuality and the Built Enviornment.

Andrew Shanken, Professor of Architecture
Architecture and Consumer Culture, Memory and the Built Environment, Paper Architecture and the Unbuilt, Expositions, Themed Landscapes, and Architectural Rhetoric.

Neyran Turan, Assistant Professor of Architecture

The Ph.D. program in architecture is governed by the regulations of the University Graduate Division and administered by the departmental Ph.D. committee. Specific degree requirements include:

Course requirements for the degree include: