The Graduate Program in Sustainable Design is an interdisciplinary and research-based degree path. Here, scholars are both part of a specialized, close-knit cohort of MSSD students as well as members of the larger Architecture program and UT Austin campus community. Students are encouraged to draw from the sizeable and wide-ranging knowledge of faculty within the school and across the university. The Master of Science in Sustanable Design degree's STEM designation from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board also opens up new research and funding resources, and enables additional professional opportunities for international students.
The School of Architecture has several facilities and laboratories to allow for sustainable design research at various scales and scopes to complement students’ academic experiences. The Sustainable Design Program distinguishes itself from other programs in the school as its low faculty-student ratio allows for one-to-one interaction in addition to potential opportunities for Graduate Research Assistant work to support faculty research in conjunction with the Center for Sustainable Development.
Moreover, students are able to experience and contribute to the development of one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation—Austin, Texas. Together with faculty and professionals in practice students contribute to resolving Austin’s current density, equity, and environmental issues in the living laboratory of a dynamic and ever-changing city.
sustainable design
DEGREES + PROGRAMS
The Sustainable Design Program at the University of Texas as Austin offers two graduate-level degree programs and a Ph.D. in Architecture with a concentration in sustainability.
| GRADUATE | DOCTORAL | |
|---|---|---|
|
MSSD + Master of Science in Community & Regional Planning [MSCRP] |
Ph.D in Architecture, Sustainability | |
SUSTAINABLE DESIGN NEWS
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@utsoaOn November 7, @philipperahmarchitectes joins us as the keynote speaker for the Interior Provocations: WEATHER symposium.
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@utsoaCalling all aspiring landscape architects! On Oct. 29, Associate Professor and Undergraduate Landscape Architecture Chair at Auburn University, Rob Holmes, comes to UTSOA to present his lecture, “TO SEE THE THING AT ALL.”
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@utsoaOn Oct. 27, New Orleans-based architect and founder and director of @Colloqate, Bryan C. Lee Jr. joins us for his lecture, "POWER + PLACE: MEMORY IS MOMENTUM."
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@utsoaWhat roles and responsibilities do fields engaged in shaping the atmosphere of interiors assume in the age of extreme weather events unfolding across a heating planet? How do atmospheric patterns, traditions, metaphors, or mishaps from the past inform current interior responses?
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@utsoaDid you know “Goldsmith Courtyard” is formally named the Eden and Hal Box Courtyard?
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@utsoaGian-Claudia Sciara, associate professor of community and regional planning (CRP) at The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, has been selected for a Swiss National Science Foundation Scientific Exchange award to collaborate at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landsc
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@utsoaWhat is architecture’s role in shaping a sustainable and connected future? On Oct. 6, Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi will examine that in their lecture, “DRIFTING SYMMETRIES: PROJECTS AND PROVOCATIONS.”
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@utsoa📝 Applications are open for 2026-2027 undergraduate and graduate programs!
Apply today to join an interdisciplinary community of designers, planners, and scholars committed to creative exploration, ambitious scholarship and critical practice.
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@utsoaDiscover the hidden narrative of one of the world’s largest distributed freshwater reserves: aquifers.