Special Programs

The UMass Amherst Summer Design Academy provides an opportunity for high school students interested in architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, or interior design to experience the profession and see firsthand the kinds of activities that take place in a university design program.

The Design Academy's interactive educational experiences include design exercises, hands-on building and model-making activities, and visits to an architecture office and a construction project, as well as lectures, discussions, and campus tours.

The Yestermorrow-UMass Semester in Sustainable Design/Build offers students and recent graduates the opportunity to explore interdisciplinary, whole-systems thinking while developing fundamental technical skills in architecture and construction.

The full-immersion, credit-bearing semester in green building and design complements architecture, building science, engineering, and environmental design majors and has wide application in liberal arts curricula.

UMass DesignBuild is unique interdisciplinary program where students from the Department of Architecture and the Building and Construction Technology Program collaborate to design and build small, energy efficient, low-carbon houses for local affordable housing providers. 

The Department of Architecture offers two 4-credit introductory studios—Arch 100 and 101—to Boston Public School students and recent alumni. The studios are offered in partnership with Digital Ready, a Boston-based nonprofit that builds STEM-focused academic and job market pathways for underrepresented students.