Doctor of Philosophy in Architecture - History and Theory

The School of Architecture, Princeton's center for teaching and research in architectural design, history, and theory, offers advanced degrees at both the master's and the doctoral levels. The curriculum for the master's degree, which has both a professional and a post-professional track, emphasizes design expertise in the context of architectural scholarship. Architecture is understood as a cultural practice involving both speculative intelligence and practical know-how. Each student constructs a personal course of study around a core of required courses that represents the knowledge essential to the education of an architect today. The five-year doctoral program focuses on the history, theory, and criticism of architecture, urbanism, landscape, and building technology. The approach is interdisciplinary, covering a broad range of research interests from an architectural perspective. Working closely with the faculty of the school and allied departments in the University, students build individual programs of study involving at least two years of course work, general examinations, and a dissertation. In 2014, the School of Architecture launched a new computation and energy Ph.D. track. The new track focuses on developing and researching new techniques of embodied computation and new systems for energy and environmental performance. It is supported by connections to the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the Department of Computer Science and the Andlinger Center for Energy and Environment. With the addition of new courses and curricula for the computation and energy track, and with the acquisition of industrial robotic arms and the renovation of the Embodied Computation Laboratory (also known as the Architectural Laboratory), students will actively contribute to hands-on applied research in architecture while becoming experts in their field.
The interdisciplinary nature of the doctoral (Ph.D.) program stresses the relationship of architecture, urbanism, landscape, and building technologies to their cultural, social, and political milieu. Supported by strong affiliations with other departments in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences, the program has developed a comprehensive approach to the study of the field. Students interact with their peers to sustain their individual projects in a context of collective research.

All official Transcripts. A bachelor's degree or its foreign equivalent from an accredited college or university. Official transcripts of your grades.
Three letters of recommendation. Applicants are required to upload a transcript (may be unofficial at this time) including the key from all attended colleges or universities.
The transcript must show the name of the student, name of the issuing institution, name of courses taken, and the grades received in those courses.
The Graduate School does not have a minimum TOEFL or IELTS score requirement. If you are offered admission and accept our offer and have scored below a 27 on the Speaking sub-section of the TOEFL iBT or below an 8.0 on the Speaking sub-section of the IELTS you will be required to take an English placement test at the start of the fall term. Students who do not pass the test will be required to enroll in English Language Program classes.

GRE :
General Test - Ph.D. Optional/not required

Additional departmental requirements
Ph.D. At least three samples of written work, no page limit, but maximum size 10 MB each. Please compress the file. In the statement of academic purpose, candidates must describe professional and academic experience and its relevance to future plans for research and teaching. Also outline potential areas of research in the context of Princeton's program. Applicants are required to select a subplan when applying.