Our new MSc in Bio Digital Architecture provides students with the skills and know-how to practice architecture at the cutting edge of digital design. The programme is designed to provide a theoretical basis of Computer-Aided Architectural Design as an academic discipline while simultaneously teaching the use of the computer for analysis of design problems and a tool for the generation of space and form.
The programme provides an excellent environment for computational methods in architectural education, with digital workshop and fabrication facilities, computer labs and an open digital architecture lecture series drawing on leaders in the field to present their work providing students a valuable opportunity to interact with academics and practitioners.
Theory and practice are taught in tandem so that students learn theory through application and testing, enabling them to apply this knowledge and understanding in design studio projects.
The programme is primarily intended for graduates and professionals from a range of design backgrounds, including architecture, interior, graphic and urban design, who wish to develop computational techniques in architecture and gain the ability to use digital tools and programming as easily as any other form of communication.
The course, which can be studied full-time or part-time, offers an academically rigorous and intellectually challenging learning environment, which aims to enhance career development within the field for professionals and academics. The aim of the programme is to provide a systematic understanding of core and advanced aspects of digital architectural design and the applicability of biological theory to enhance participants' architectural thinking and perspective of the built environment. This is done through a combination of taught courses, research assignments and project work. Students will be asked to conduct rigorous research and to explore the theoretical and practical application of their new knowledge and understanding in the context of design.
A minimum of a second-class UK degree, or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard, in architecture or related discipline in the built environment, or associated disciplines to the subject of Bio Digital Architecture is required. Some basic computing experience is expected. Applicants must present a portfolio as part of their application. If the applicant has a non-design background, an interview may be required in lieu of a portfolio.
A key part of your application to the MSc Bio Digital Architecture programme is your portfolio. As part of portfolio submissions, we look for the following:
The University will consider applications from students offering a wide range of qualifications. Students offering alternative qualifications should contact us for further advice.
If you are an international student, visit our International Student website for further information about entry requirements for your country, including details of the International Foundation Programmes.
The University requires all non-native speakers of English to reach a minimum standard of proficiency in written and spoken English before beginning a postgraduate degree. Certain subjects require a higher level.
For detailed information see our English language requirements web pages.
Please note that if you are required to meet an English language condition, we offer a number of pre-sessional courses in English for Academic Purposes through Kent International Pathways.
The following modules are indicative of those offered on this programme. This list is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation. Most programmes will require you to study a combination of compulsory and optional modules. You may also have the option to take modules from other programmes so that you may customise your programme and explore other subject areas that interest you.
This module will introduce students to thinking about form and spatial organisation as a bottom-up process and give students an introduction to the use of the computer as a tool to model generatively. Students will be introduced to a series of concepts and theoretical positions to anchor their outlook, facilitate engagement with the computational logic of the programme, develop their understanding of key concepts and ideas to support and further their design thinking, and develop their understanding of the role and application of computing in and for architectural design.
The module consists of a blend of lectures, seminars and workshops. Concepts and theories fundamental to the programme are presented in lectures and seminars, which are married with workshop sessions in which students are introduced to computer modelling methods that demonstrate the theory. Workshops will be studio based to emphasise a design ethos and promote exchange between theory, demonstration and application. Students will be required to adapt a method presented towards the generation of architectural space and form.
This module will introduce students to the basics of computer programming to take them from beginners through to intermediate programmers, using Processing, a Java-based language created for visual designers, architects and artists. Through the course, students will learn how to use core Processing methods, and transferable programming techniques, to create architectural spatial formations.
Students will be taught the fundamentals of computer code through a series of workshops, which are studio based to emphasise a design ethos and promote exchange between learning code and application. Students will learn how to write short programs that create dynamic patterns and then, having grasped the fundamentals of coding, will study Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) and Agent-Based Modelling (ABM). The module will shift from taught workshop demonstrations initially to tutorial/studio oriented sessions in which the students will develop a short ABM program generating architectural space and form as a result of interaction.
This module aims to develop the student's overall understanding of contemporary scientific theories pertinent to avant-garde architectural design methodologies. Students will develop an interdisciplinary and contemporary understanding of architecture, architectural design, and how people perceive and interact through the study of concepts from other fields relevant, yet traditionally separate, to architecture; such as biology, psychology, computer science and philosophy.
The module consists of lectures that introduce and describe contemporary concepts and theories applicable to bio digital architecture, and seminars in which students will debate and analyse propositions to critically reflect on architecture, architectural design and the quality of the built environment. The aim of the module is to develop the student's ability to write in a way that deals with complex issues, and that addresses the outcomes of the module.
The Morphogenetic Programming module introduces students to generative algorithms for creating structures to challenge traditional notions of designing architectural form and space, and (in tandem with the Discourse and Theory module) will cultivate a bio digital outlook to architectural design for the students research-oriented thesis project. Students will study various methods of simulating natural processes of growth and pattern formation using computational methods and explore how these may be utilised for design and the generation of architectural form and structure.
The module is taught through a blend of lectures and seminars that introduce and describe concepts and models of morphogenesis, and workshops in which students will develop their computer programming skills and exercise computational methods of form generation to explore their application to the generation of architectural space, structure and form.
Workshops will be studio based to emphasise a design ethos and promote exchange between learning concepts, methods, code and application. The module will shift from taught workshop demonstrations initially to tutorial/studio oriented sessions in which the students will exercise and adapt the modelling methods presented to develop architectonic propositions generated through bio-inspired spatial self-organisation.
This module will have a taught lecture and seminar format. Traditional and innovative approaches to building procurement, including traditional, design-build and management contracts as found in standard and bespoke agreements, will be presented in lectures and analysed in seminars, with reference to both generic scenarios and situations based on the students' individual prior experience of professional practice.
Assessment is mostly based on coursework, with presentations, case-study analyses, design proposals, essays and the dissertation.
This programme aims to:
You will gain knowledge and understanding of:
You develop intellectual skills to:
You gain subject-specific skills to:
You gain the following transferable skills:
The School of Architecture and Planning studios include a dedicated computing suite with a range of environmental construction software, and a new digital crit studio. There is a fully equipped architectural model-making workshop for constructing models and large-scale prototypes.
The School has excellent contacts with businesses and culture in the local area, including regional organisations such as the Kent Architecture Centre, Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), Kent County Council and Kent Design Initiative. The Sustainable Communities Plan is particularly strong in south-east England, making the region the ideal place in which to debate innovative solutions to architectural issues.
Kent also has excellent links with schools of architecture in Lille, Bruges, Rome, Istanbul, Venice, Tokyo, and, in the USA, Virginia.
Academic study is complemented by a mentoring scheme organised in collaboration with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and involving students in events with local practices.
Staff publish regularly and widely in journals, conference proceedings and books. Among others, they have recently contributed to: Architectural Research Quarterly; Architectural Review; Building and Environment; The Journal of Architecture; The World of Interiors. Details of recently published books can be found within our staff research interests.
All students registered for a taught Master's programme are eligible to apply for a place on our Global Skills Award Programme. The programme is designed to broaden your understanding of global issues and current affairs as well as to develop personal skills which will enhance your employability.
KSAP incorporates the Centre for Research in European Architecture (CREAte), which focuses on research in architectural humanities and design, the Centre for Architecture and Sustainable Environment (CASE), which promotes research in the field of sustainable architecture, and the new Digital Architecture Research Centre (DARC), which researches the use of digital technologies in architecture and the built environment.
The Centre provides a focus for research in architecture in the European context. Its emphasis is on the role and contribution of humanities to architecture and urban design in the context of urban and regional regeneration, nationally and internationally.
CREAte provides a platform for evening lectures by contemporary architects and scholars; hosting debates and events that are in the heart of architectural agenda of today.
The Centre builds upon its staff specialisms, interests and skills in the following areas: regional studies, contemporary architectural and urban theory and design, architectural history and theory (ranging from antiquity to contemporary European cities), sustainability, European topographies (landscape, urban, suburban and metropolitan) etc. Staff participate in the activities of AHRA – Architecture Humanities Research Association and are internationally published authors.
The Centre promotes research in the field of sustainable environment regionally, nationally and internationally.
Its research focus encompasses different aspects and scales of the sustainable built environment from the individual building to the urban block, promoting the wider environmental agenda and keeping the School at the forefront of research and development in the field. CASE also pursues research into the historical and cultural dimension of environmental design to foster links between the sciences, arts and humanities. There is a strong interest in understanding the environmental behaviour of historic buildings and the strategies originally deployed to manage the internal environment.
The Centre has already secured funding from various sources. This includes three EPSRC projects on climate change weather data for a sustainable built environment, sustainability of airport terminal buildings and design interventions in the public realm for affecting human behaviour, and two TSB-funded projects on Building Performance Evaluation. CASE is also involved with the recent EPSRC large-scale network on Digital Economy Communities and Culture.
The Centre is the newest research centre at Kent School of Architecture and Planning (KSAP) in the application of digital technology in architecture. The focus of the Digital Architecture Research Centre (DARC) will be the creative use of digital technologies to enhance design and fabrication possibilities for architecture and the built environment.
The centre will have three streams headed by members: 1) Generative design and computational creativity, 2) Digital fabrication and robotics and 3) Digital visualisation and mixed reality.
DARC will promote an innovative interdisciplinary research environment exploring intersections between architecture and digital technologies, to open up and expand the schools research agenda and funding possibilities. The new research centre will promote a fundamental shift in architecture and design thinking to develop design methods for the utilisation of computational technologies in architectural design, fabrication and assembly.
The centre is a new interdisciplinary direction for KSAP, founded on members' expertise and international research profiles to open up new avenues of research activity. The centre draws on university-wide contacts and expertise, and attracts additional expertise, knowledge and research in the field of digital architecture through existing and future collaborations, adding to its high quality research output, and looks to enhance the faculty's Digital Humanities theme, principally in the areas of Digital Creative Arts and Digital Heritage.
Full details of staff research interests can be found on the School's website.
The 2021/22 annual tuition fees for this programme are:
For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.
For students continuing on this programme fees will increase year on year by no more than RPI + 3% in each academic year of study except where regulated.* If you are uncertain about your fee status please contact information@kent.ac.uk.
The University will assess your fee status as part of the application process. If you are uncertain about your fee status you may wish to seek advice from UKCISA before applying.
For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.
For students continuing on this programme, fees will increase year on year by no more than RPI + 3% in each academic year of study except where regulated.*
The University will assess your fee status as part of the application process. If you are uncertain about your fee status you may wish to seek advice from UKCISA before applying.
Find out more about general additional costs that you may pay when studying at Kent.
Search our scholarships finder for possible funding opportunities. You may find it helpful to look at both:
We have a range of subject-specific awards and scholarships for academic, sporting and musical achievement.
Next steps
This course page is for the 2021/22 academic year. Please visit the current online prospectus for a list of postgraduate courses we offer.
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