Doctor (PhD) of Architecture and Urban Planning

Program Overview

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The PhD in Architecture and Urban Planning from Islamic Azad University's Dubai Branch focuses on advanced research skills in five areas: theory, design, computation, socio-cultural studies, and spatial studies. Graduates are well-prepared for roles as architects, urban planners, researchers, and educators, working in academia, government, the non-profit sector, or the private sector.

Program Outline

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Degree Overview:

The Doctor (PhD) of Architecture and Urban Planning program at Islamic Azad University, Dubai Branch, is a research-focused program designed to equip students with advanced knowledge and skills in the field. The program delves into five key categories: theory and history, design, computation and education, interdisciplinary socio-cultural studies, technologies, and spatial studies. The program aims to expand students' knowledge in architecture by exploring various ontologies, epistemologies, and methodologies, adapting to changing research contexts and situations.

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Program Learning Objectives (PLOs):

Upon completion of the program, graduates are expected to be able to:

• Theory and Knowledge:
• Discuss the main theoretical approaches in architectural subdisciplines and their implications for research.
• Develop expertise in a significant architectural subdiscipline and substantial knowledge in a minor field outside of architecture.
• Identify and characterize fundamental theories, concepts, and issues in architectural subdisciplines.
• Research:
• Identify local and international research gaps and problems in architecture.
• Understand and apply quantitative and qualitative research methods in spatial studies.
• Adhere to research ethics related to their architectural subdiscipline.
• Design novel research projects that contribute new knowledge to the field.
• Discuss the value of incorporating architectural perspectives in interdisciplinary research.
• Dissemination of Scholarship:
• Participate in peer-reviewed conferences and journal publications to disseminate research findings.
• Professional Development:
• Understand the different types of academic institutions and the expectations of faculty and staff.
• Design and deliver lectures.
• Identify and explain different academic instruction methods and their objectives.

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Outline:

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Program Courses:

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Doctor of Architecture

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Core Courses:

• Architectural Design and Learning Style: This course examines design research, theories, practices, processes, methods, and cross-sections of architectural education schools and styles.
It explores the relationship between education, practice, and research.
• Architectural Theory and Interpretation: This course investigates the relationship between theory and architecture, including philosophical and architectural underpinning theories.
Students analyze how theory can challenge assumptions and offer new perspectives on critical problems in architectural studies. It covers theoretical references in Western and Iranian-Islamic architecture. The course aims to help students understand the relationship between architecture and other cultural areas and provides a framework for interpreting architectural production. It explores various theories, including deconstruction, phenomenology, feminist theory, environmental philosophy, and continental philosophy. Students develop critical perspectives on contemporary social issues.
• Philosophy and Architecture: This course examines the relationship between philosophy and architecture, types of philosophy (colonial and analytical), the PhD concept as a doctor of philosophy, philosophy of arts, and philosophy of architecture.
It clarifies philosophical components and their interpretation in architecture (ontology, epistemology, and methodology). It covers interdisciplinary philosophical studies and approaches.
• Theory Making in Architecture: This course utilizes scientific and philosophical approaches in architecture to present a wide range of theory making, creating theories, testing theories, and theorizing architectural studies and research.
• Research Methods for Architecture I & II: This course discusses documentation, knowledge dissemination, knowledge mapping, and the application of research results in architectural design and practice.
It provides guidelines for integrating research into practice and uses case studies, presentations, and examples to illustrate key concepts, procedures, and applications of knowledge in practice.
• PhD Dissertation: This course is the final product of the PhD program.
Students must complete this course after passing the comprehensive exam. They conduct a substantial research project on a topic of interest, contributing to the body of knowledge in the field. Students produce and defend a thesis in Architecture and Urban Planning, conducting research, collecting data, and analyzing data based on their research proposal.

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Core Elective Courses:

• Contemporary Architecture (Theories and School of Thoughts): This course focuses on the Renaissance and humanism era in Europe, their schools of thought, and theoretical studies.
It explores the roots and origins of modern architecture theories and their impact on Iranian and world architecture. Students develop a comprehensive understanding of the subject through review, analysis, and criticism of philosophical and historical origins.
• Nature and Architecture: This course examines the relationship between humans and nature through philosophical, physical, cosmological, and ecological approaches to develop a sustainable artificial environment.
It explores concepts and methods on the interrelation of architecture and the environment (natural and artificial).
• Reviews on Architecture Literature: This course focuses on reviewing and critiquing a critical text, essay, or document in each student's field of interest.
Critical thinking, identifying new problems, and generating new ideas are central to this course. It reviews an anthology of architectural literature and issues. It covers thematic subjects in aesthetics and their relationship to architecture as a process, product, and way of life. It includes philosophical studies in architecture and arts.
• Religious Architecture: This course focuses on the relationship between architecture and religion through comparative and analogic studies to demonstrate their effects and changes.
It includes religious studies, religious architecture, and theories of meaning in architecture.
• Islamic Architecture (Theories and Methods): This course explains the philosophy of Iranian and world Islamic architecture, including ontological, epistemological, and methodological studies.
It compares case objects in Iranian Islamic architecture to theorize a transcendental model to differentiate, criticize, and develop today's profession and education in the local context.
• Climate and Architecture: This course focuses on climatic attitudes in architecture from the past to the present and develops concepts of adaptive architecture to the environment.
• Scientific Methods in Spatial Design-Critiques Process: This course focuses on three fields: (1) scientific and research methodology, (2) design studies and critiques in architecture, and (3) space and spatial-oriented design and critiques as a mainstream in architecture.
It extends scientific methodology and philosophy to space-oriented design processes and critiques.
• Comparative Studies in Architecture: This course develops concepts, theory, and methods of comparative studies in architectural knowledge.
It is part of interdisciplinary studies focused on sociology and extends socio-cultural roots in architectural research, comparing architectural objects and processes in a cross-cultural situation. It derives a specific framework for cultural and social concepts, theories, and methods in architectural studies.
• Analytical History of Technology: This course concentrates on two main parts: (1) a methodological approach in analytical comparison, and (2) historical events in technological and technical progress in human lives.
Technology is a central part of "architecture" as a concept and a comprehensive view of its profession.

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Doctor of Urban Planning

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Core Courses:

• Islamic/Iranian Urban Planning Philosophy: This course covers Islamic-Iranian philosophies and their relationship to urban studies.
It explores factors in Islamic-Iranian philosophy that affect the urban environment, organization, and urban form. It reviews and analyzes a wide range of philosophers' and intellectuals' treatises, essays, and issues in a critical thinking manner.
• Research Methods in Interdisciplinary Studies: This course covers various interdisciplinary studies in urban and urban studies and develops methodical and philosophical approaches.
It discusses documentation, knowledge dissemination, knowledge mapping, and the application of research results in urban planning and the profession. It provides guidelines for integrating research into practice and uses case studies, presentations, and examples to illustrate key concepts, procedures, and applications of knowledge in practice.
• Comparative Studies on New Urban Planning Theories: This course develops concepts, theory, and methods of comparative studies in urban studies and urban planning.
It is part of interdisciplinary studies focused on sociology, extends socio-cultural roots in urban research, and compares urban studies in a cultural situation. It derives a specific framework for cultural and social concepts, theories, and methods in urban studies.
• Urban Planning Problems: This course introduces urban problems in a wide range and variations, focusing on international and local contexts.
It covers an overall view of urban problems and transfers them to research projects and studies.
• Advanced Methods in Urban Planning: This course covers a wide range of different methods that could be used in urban studies and urban planning analysis, deduction, abduction, and evaluation.

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Core Elective Courses:

• Comparative Studies on New Urban Planning Theories: This course reviews urban planning concepts, theories, and methods in a comparative approach and manner.
It develops spatial planning and urban projects comparing different decision-making systems and their local government emergences.
• National and Regional Planning Theories: This course reviews urban planning, spatial structures, and regional development spatial dimensions in an international experiment context.
• Urban Management Theories: This course develops concepts, themes, and theories in urban management from different perspectives: urban planners, local government, and social context.
• Seminar: Analysing Urban Challenges in Iran: This course introduces analyzing urban problems in Iran.
It covers an overall view of urban problems and challenges and analyzes some urban issues through studying research projects and studies.

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Program Structure:

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Doctor of Architecture/Urban Planning

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Architecture (Discipline)

• New Curriculum 2021:
• Core Course:
6 credits, 348 hours per semester
• PhD Dissertation:
1 credit, 18 hours (run in three consecutive semesters)
• Old Curriculum:
• Core Elective Courses:
11 credits, 3 hours per semester, 48 hours total
• PhD Dissertation:
1 credit, 18 hours (run in three consecutive semesters)

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Urban Planning (Discipline)

• Core Course: 5 credits, 234 hours
• PhD Dissertation: 1 credit, 18 hours (run in three consecutive semesters)
• Core Elective Courses: 4 credits, 234 hours

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Total Credits and Hours:

• Architecture (New Curriculum): 7 credits, 36528 hours + Dissertation
• Architecture (Old Curriculum): 12 credits, 51288 hours + Dissertation

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Careers:

Graduates of the Doctorate in Architecture and Urban Planning program are well-equipped for a variety of career paths, including:

• Academic Environment: Researchers, university instructors
• Governmental Agencies: Policymakers
• Universities: Researchers, instructors
• Non-Profit Organizations: Researchers, program developers
• Private Sector: Architectural consultants, business entrepreneurs

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Other:

• The program is offered at the Islamic Azad University, Dubai Branch.
• The program is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of architecture and urban planning.
• The program emphasizes research and critical thinking skills.
• The program is taught by experienced faculty members.
• The program is designed to prepare students for successful careers in the field.