Master cycle

The second cycle leads to the State Diploma in Architecture (DEA).

It should enable students to master :

• critical thinking on issues specific to architecture;
• autonomous design of an architectural project by deepening its concepts, methods and fundamental knowledge;
• critical understanding of building processes in relation to different contexts and scales, and with reference to different uses, techniques and temporalities.

The second cycle prepares students for the various professional fields and modes of practice in architecture, as well as for architectural research.

If you wish to become a project manager in your own right, you will need additional training, the HMONP.

The Master’s cycle can also lead to other higher education courses, such as Master’s degrees, subject to the specific conditions of access to these courses.

The second cycle is open to students undergoing initial training:

• holders of the Diploma of Architectural Studies (DEEA) ;
• hold a French or foreign qualification that is recognized as an exemption from, or equivalent to, this diploma under national regulations;
• who can prove that their studies, professional experience or personal achievements have been validated with a view to gaining access to this level of study.

The second cycle is not offered as continuing professional education at ENSAPLV.

The Master’s degree in architecture (DEA) is awarded on successful completion of all the courses that make up the program, i.e.: all the courses of the two years, including the end-of-studies project (PFE) and the compulsory internship.

This field of study explores architecture through the lens of other spatial disciplines. It is based on a multi-disciplinary approach to thinking about the complexity of architecture. It brings together courses that develop singular artistic and scenographic approaches in their relationship with architecture, cities and territories.

The three lines of research that structure the field (1/ Scenography and architecture: scenography, an art of place, scenography, a culture of space; 2/ Art, cinema, architecture: how does cinema enable us to apprehend architecture? 3/ Plastic approaches and urban territories: questioning the materiality of places and revealing the potential of urban spaces and landscapes Art, architecture, territory of experimentation) propose to invest the field of contemporary art, live performance and scenography with the aim of enriching the approach to the architectural project in its urban and social dimension, and the approach to its conception based in part on experimentation. The work proposed is articulated between practice and theory, and the courses (seminars, cross-disciplinary projects) are part of this experimental and research-based approach, questioning the functional and technical complexity of the architectural design process.

Changes in the world are having a profound effect on contemporary architecture. From the ecological and energetic transitions generated by environmental issues, to digital and technological transitions, they are transforming architecture both in its design and construction, and in the way it is perceived and mediatized. The aim of this field of study is to examine these transformations through their various aspects. It is run by a multi-disciplinary team, with three seminars: 

• Critique et histoire de l’architecture et de la ville analyzes contemporary architecture using the tools of history.
• Pratiques constructives du projet architectural aims to analyze the processes and collaborative practices of those involved in the construction industry in the light of contemporary issues concerning the materialization of the project.
• Design activity and instrumentations Savoirs des activités de projets instrumentées examines contemporary architectural design activities through the new paradigms and tools they call upon: bio-mimicry, neuroscience, collaborative design, parametric modeling, digital fabrication, etc.

Contemporary environmental issues and digital technologies are calling into question certain traditional project practices, which is why the dialogue between project group and seminar activities is mutually enriching.

This field of study explores the question of inhabitation and its relationship to territories, in terms of social practices and changes in the forms of urbanization and the architecture of collective housing. It focuses on the analysis of perceptions and practices of space, as well as the study, design and transformation of buildings, public spaces, fabrics and metropolitan territories.

Inhabiting is considered in a broad sense, taking into account that the action of inhabiting engages a diversity of actors acting on and in space, in an ongoing negotiation aimed at meeting the needs and relieving the tensions of the contemporary world. Within “urban worlds” – metropolises and suburban extensions, medium-sized agglomerations and (r)urban bangs – the aim is to address the processes, approaches and practices capable of generating or accompanying mutations, guaranteeing the conditions for living in the city through the transformation of built situations, driving new socio-spatial balances, or sustaining existing ones.

Based around three seminars (1/ Architectures de l’habitat, espaces, usages, processus ; 2/ Habitat et ville durable, pour une approche critique de la fabrique urbaine ; 3/ Territoires de l’écologie politique ) – in dialogue with project teaching and exploration and experimentation schemes, the methods developed are hybrid, multi-disciplinary and multi-scalar. Covering a wide range of fields, themes and practices, from housing and metropolitan territory, typology and urban morphology, to participation, programming and design, they aim to take a critical look at contemporary inhabited spaces, and produce a critical and ecological approach to spatial and social innovation.

“History is not the past, it is our present. We carry our history with us, we are our history” reminds us of James Baldwin.

The dialogue between eras that “building within the built” induces is a challenge with high ecological and artistic potential. Many architects have created their most striking works by transforming existing buildings. Reconversions, refurbishments, restorations and extensions are major creative areas.

By working on history, we can invent the present, while more easily freeing ourselves from the formal fashions of the moment. With this in mind, this field of study focuses on the history and modes of transformation of the various existing built heritages: recognized, little-known, commonplace or ordinary… It therefore covers listed or registered monuments as well as valuable but as yet unidentified heritage, and includes modest heritages (rural, industrial, modernist).

It also questions the ecological transformation of the ordinary or self-produced heritage that makes up the city in all its diversity and, in contrast to “urban palimpsests” in which only the site’s land is reused, it bases its urban modifications on the transformation of pre-existing buildings, which must be restored, rehabilitated, reconverted, enhanced, transformed: building with the built or building in the built. With the support of the seminar Histoire et pratiques des transformations du cadre bâti, the question of heritage is posed both in its conceptual dimension and through the diversity of practices in project management and contracting. The field of study also integrates methodological issues of survey, analysis, diagnosis and representation of old buildings, as well as restoration and rehabilitation techniques, whether ancient or modern.

The context in which architecture operates is undergoing profound change. The widespread urbanization of territories and lifestyles, the growing and uncontrolled consumption of energy, materials and soil, and the atrophy of biodiversity are all elements that are transforming the planet, its territories, its landscapes and the lifestyles of its populations. At a time when environmental degradation is accelerating and disasters are multiplying, a better understanding of the dynamics and fragility of human environments is essential if we are to use architecture to take the best possible action in this destabilized world. New theoretical and practical skills are required, crossing architectural, urban and landscape scales, and opening up to new knowledge from the life and earth sciences, landscape and philosophy. They involve taking into account the otherness of places, and the lived experience of their populations. They encourage us to rethink the ways in which we build and build society locally, in a sustainable and democratic way. In the face of such challenges, this field of study questions the practice of an architectural, territorial and landscape ethic capable of proposing a “development” of environments. To address these issues in all their richness, this field of study brings together three seminars: 1/ Architectures des milieux habités : philosophie, architecture, urbain ; 2/ Architecture/s et paysage/s : les fondamentaux ; 3/ Architecture : fabrique soutenable du tout monde, as well as a number of project groups. Drawing on the diversity of approaches and cultures of its teaching staff, this field of study is a place to discover and deepen the inherent complexity of architectural practice in this anthropocenic context, between potentiality and vulnerability, academic knowledge and transformative know-how, an open view of the contemporary and an awareness of the already existing.

Semester 7

Teaching is divided into three units:

• UE7.1 : Exploration / Research / Project
• UE7.2 : Student career path
• UE7.3 : Knowledge (outside fields of study)

Teaching is divided into three units:

• UE8.4 : Exploration / Research / Project
• UE8.5 : Student career path
• UE8.6 : Knowledge (outside fields of study)

In semesters 7 and 8, in addition to projects and seminars, courses are offered that reinforce the coherence of the various fields of study:

• Exploration: organized throughout the semester, this 22-hour course brings together two distinct disciplinary fields. The theme of exploration is linked to the field of study in which the student is enrolling.
• Interdisciplinary Pedagogical Experimentation (EPI): this 44-hour course, 35 hours of which are intensive, brings together two distinct disciplines. Linked to the theme of the field of study in which it takes place, the EPI is linked to the seminar or project.

Students can request validation of a student initiative (VIE) to replace an interdisciplinary teaching experiment.

In addition, elective courses are offered in the Knowledge UE in line with the student’s professional project, namely :

• a choice of 13 courses in Science and Technology for Architecture (STA) (open in S7 and S8);
• electives in History, Sociology or Philosophy (open in S7, S8 and S9);
• choice of Law or Ecological Transitions (open in S7, S8 and S9).

This UE includes language teaching.

Semester 9

Teaching is divided into two units:

• UE9.7 : Exploration / Research / Project
• UE9.8 : Student career path

Semester 10

Teaching is divided into two units:

• UE10.9 : Exploration / Research / Project
• UE10.10 : Student career path

In semester 9, students finalize their dissertations, which are defended.

He chooses two courses from those offered:

• electives in History, Sociology or Philosophy (open in S7, S8 and S9);
• choice of Law or Ecological Transitions (open in S7, S8 and S9).

The end-of-studies project (PFE) in semester 10 is a personal project consisting of an architectural or urban design project accompanied by a presentation report. It is part of the student’s chosen field of study. It must demonstrate the student’s ability to master architectural design and apply the knowledge and working methods acquired during their training.

The Student Pathway course includes an eight-week full-time internship, as well as a module on architectural professions. Last but not least, the DEA requires B2-level language certification.