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PhD in Architecture, Landscape and Design at the University of Toronto

The PhD in Architecture, Landscape and Design at the University of Toronto encourages students to conduct advanced research across a range of disciplines, fostering a critical and ethical approach to the architecture and design industry.


School: University of Toronto, John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design
Course: PhD in Architecture, Landscape and Design
Location: Toronto, Canada
Course dates: three-year programme
Application deadline: 10 December 2024

The Doctor of Philosophy in Architecture, Landscape and Design (ALD PhD) at the Daniels Faculty is a rigorous interdisciplinary programme that trains students to pursue advanced research across a spectrum of built environmental practices.

ALD PhD students explore methodologies across our disciplines, ranging from theoretical to applied research in design, history theory, building science and visual studies.

Whether focusing on the transnational histories of the Chinese garden, researching the neglected prehistory of the environmental movement, monitoring operations in digital architectural production or tracking proprioception and daylighting, the engagements of our students range across the built environment at different scales and in different registers.

The increasing complexity of architecture, landscape architecture, cities and exurban settlements warrant creative design, critical thinking and ethical action guided by advanced research.

The challenges facing constructed environments in the 21st century push us beyond existing disciplinary lines to seek synergies among our fields – building science and engineering, computation and fabrication, health and society, history and theory, technology and environment – and to develop these synergies in tandem with fields like artificial intelligence, building performance evaluation, climate justice, community-based knowledge practice, digital design processes, forensic architecture, formalism, gender studies, heritage conservation, Indigenous studies, landscape studies, robotics in design, sustainability, visual studies and many others.

More information is available on our graduate admissions page.

ALD PhD Virtual Open House on 8 November.

Learn more about the PhD programme and its three streams: Building Science, Computation and History and Theory of Architecture and Landscape, Visual Studies.

Find out more about the course and apply ›

Top image: plan of the city and environs of Hang-chow, showing the chief buildings (杭城⻄湖江⼲湖墅图) (ca 1716-1727). Colour on paper: 125.7 x 67.5 cm, from the archive of The British Library

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Photograph showing a birds eye view of the Daniels building at the University of Toronto.