Master in Architecture and Extreme Environments

Master in Architecture and Extreme Environments is one of 5 English-taught Architecture programmes at Master's Degree level in the register, offered by 3 institutions. 5 of them list an annual fee for students from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland, from EUR 6,500 to EUR 9,000; this programme lists EUR 9,000 a year. 5 are recorded as free for EU, EEA and Swiss students.

Architecture and Extreme Environments is a two-year master's programme at the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen. It sits under the Institute of Architecture and Space and is taught in English. The programme looks at how architecture meets difficult climates and conditions around the world, and how design can respond to them.

What you study

The programme explores the meeting point of innovation, culture, artistic sensibility and the environment through architecture. The teaching is site-specific: each project starts from a real place and its local knowledge. You work from the building scale down to the finest detail, with attention to both sustainable performance and aesthetic richness. The programme states that sustainable practice means being present and learning to act globally.

How the programme is organised

Every project includes a month-long fieldwork stay on site. That fieldwork shapes the design work and keeps it tied to local conditions. The programme's own examples show the range of places students have worked in: a vortex air cleaning device in the Gobi Desert, a malaria prevention test shelter in Amazonas, a salt tile prototype in the Atacama Desert, a salt water battery and light façade in Svalbard, a beam from frozen cord in Fairbanks, Alaska, and floating restorer plant tests in Jakarta. Graduation projects have included Deconstruct / Reconstruct, CUXTAL ANTHROPOCENE RECOVERY CENTER, A Finale of Flowers and The Botanical Corridor.

Who it suits

This programme is for architecture students who want to work with climate, resources and local cultures, and who are ready to spend time on site rather than only in the studio. It suits people who care about how a building performs and how it looks and feels, and who want to test ideas in places with extreme conditions.

Admission, language and next steps

The programme is taught in English. The semester starts in September. The head of programme is David Garcia. Applications for master's programmes go directly to the Royal Danish Academy. Students from the EU/EEA and Switzerland study free of charge; other students pay a fee set by the institution. Check the programme page for the exact application steps and any portfolio requirements.

Master’s applications go straight to Royal Danish Academy - Architecture, Design and Conservation, not through optagelse.dk, and the institution sets its own deadline. Entry requirements and language tests are set by the institution, so start from the official programme page. Our guides cover tuition fees, residence permits and housing.