Lighting Design (MFA), Architecture (M.Arch), Architecture (M.Arch) / Lighting Design (MFA)
What our students, alumni, and faculty are doing in NYC and worldwide
thinkparsonsgrad@newschool.edu
212.229.5150 (U.S. only)
Program Contacts
Allyson McDavid, Program Director, MArch
Craig Bernecker,
Program Director, MFA Lighting Design
Those who wish to pursue graduate studies in lighting design and architecture at Parsons can apply to the dual-degree program that combines the NAAB-accredited Master of Architecture and the MFA Lighting Design. Interested students should apply directly to the dual-degree program; they will automatically be considered for admission to the individual Master of Architecture and MFA Lighting Design programs as well.
The dual-degree curriculum includes the same required courses as each stand-alone degree. The compressed four-year time frame and reduced total credit points are possible because required architecture courses replace free electives in the lighting program, and required lighting design courses replace free electives in the architecture program.
The Making Center, a spacious studio bringing together creative tools from around the university, offers students unprecedented opportunities to acquire industry-ready skills, transform how products are made, and upend conventional notions of supply chains, local production, mass customization, and craft.
Graduates have gone on to open their own practices and work in prominent firms, including Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Rogers Marvel Architects, LevenBetts, Bernheimer Architecture, Gensler, Lewis.Tsurumaki. Lewis, Matter Architecture Practice, Smith-Miller Hawkinson, and Young Projects. In addition to architecture, graduates have pursued careers in engineering, urban planning, landscape design, or interior design.
Discover what our students, alumni, and faculty are doing in NYC and worldwide.
Research is integral to the Parsons learning experience, and students and faculty work together to challenge existing paradigms and advance emerging scholarship and practice. Explore the thematic research laboratories housed at Parsons and throughout The New School.
Connect to the organizations, businesses, and entrepreneurs driving global creativity and commerce. In classes, internships, and extracurricular projects, you gain marketable problem-solving skills in sectors ranging from government and nonprofits to tech and creative industries.
New York City’s thriving creative industry and cultural institutions are part of your Parsons education. Our Career Services Office is enmeshed in the art and design industries and can help you advance your career with industry-oriented internships.
Funds are earmarked for graduate travel, research, and work to support your study. Opportunities include paid teaching assistantships, research fellowships and assistantships (including ones offered throughout The New School), ample student employment, and other grants available to U.S. domestic and international students alike.
Enjoy access to extensive resources including New School libraries, computer labs, archives, and studios, along with Parsons’ state-of-the-art Making Center, facilities offering a broad array of tools to support your creative and academic growth.
The New School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.
