Master of Science, Integrated Sustainable Design

ABOUT

The Master of Science, Integrated Sustainable Design (MSc ISD), is a one-year, post-professional degree programme that offers a unique curriculum that integrates disciplinary knowledge and addresses complex real-world problems.

Whether sustainability matters to you because you have concerns about the environment or because you are thinking of a career-move, the pathways are now converging.

Buildings and cities today face climate and geopolitical risks that translate to long-term financial and societal costs. Professionals who understand this trajectory are more likely to thrive but only if they ask smarter questions early in the decision-making process. For this, they will need new capabilities to visualise, analyse and strategise.

These capabilities are learnable. This is what MSc ISD teaches.

Why MSc ISD?

Our curriculum helps you think critically. We believe a design strategist, an ESG consultant or research-practitioner, preparing for uncertainty, will do things differently. They will see clearly the connections between scales and systems. At MSc ISD, we will not lock you into a choice between building or urban scales, built over natural, technological against cultural. Our worldview holds all these in tension.

You will learn to judge buildings and cities as something more than beautiful or efficient. They must also behave with reciprocity and generosity. This reframing calls for an altogether different teaching pedagogy (see Curriculum).

Singapore is home to MSc ISD. If this is part of why you are considering the programme, we offer a critical perspective. Singapore will be the classroom, outside the classroom. You will visit landmark projects, meet frontline practitioners, talk to experts. We will discuss what works here, also what can and cannot be adapted elsewhere. Each cohort will also examine in-depth one other Asian city as counterpoint.

Who it’s for

MSc ISD is open to architects, landscape architects, urban designers, planners, engineers and environmental practitioners. Prior work experience is valued but not a pre-requisite (see Admission Eligibility). What matters is your point of view, and a willingness to express it.

Key facts

The programme is based within the College of Design and Engineering. It can be completed one year full-time (two semesters), or two years part-time (four semesters); full-time students may extend coursework by one semester, subject to approval. Students come to the programme from across Asia and beyond, from a wide range of professional and disciplinary backgrounds (see Alumni Profiles). Teaching faculty blend practice experience with research (see People). The centrepiece of the curriculum are the studios (see The Pedagogy) which are supported by courses covering regenerative design, energy and carbon, biocentric design, sustainable urbanism, and urban food systems (see Courses).