The Fourth year of the architecture tripos provides students with the opportunity to demonstrate their ability and creativity in design and professional competence as well as giving opportunity for study. Both studio and dissertation projects make use of the knowledge and skills developed in first three years of the degree and the nature of the projects will be determined by the student’s interests
The emphasis in this year is on research led exploration of architecture and design. Students choose design projects and dissertations topics based on their own interests and work closely on them with research and design supervisors, bringing together all the skills and knowledge they have acquired. They will be expected where appropriate to liaise with professional and consultants and to be able to carry out work independently and in teams.
There is one compulsory paper, Professional Practice, which covers aspects of the economics and finance of architectural projects and looks at the legal aspects in greater depth. Students are free to sit any other papers in the Architecture and Design Triposes and are encouraged to explore lectures and other papers offered by the University that might be relevant to their chosen areas of exploration. Students are appointed supervisors for their studio and dissertation projects.