This fall, downtown L.A.’s Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) will roll out four specialized postgraduate programs aimed to groom architects for a wide range of twenty-first century careers. Hosted under the umbrella, Edge, Center for Advanced Studies in Architecture, the one-year degrees will be a Master of Science in Architectural Technologies, Master of Arts in Entertainment and Fiction, Master of Science in Design of Cities, and Master of Science in Design Theory and Pedagogy.

“Given the complexities of the contemporary world and the intense demands being made on the abilities of architects to meet problems, these programs are carefully designed to develop advanced expertise that a general professional degree cannot address,” said SCI-Arc Director Hernan Diaz Alonso in a statement.

Earlier this month, Alonso announced that architect and long-time educator David Ruy will serve as Chair of Postgraduate Programs. Ruy has served on numerous faculties including Columbia University and Princeton University, and even received tenure at the Pratt Institute preceding his cross-country move to SCI-Arc.

The offer from the Arts District school was just “too good” to pass up, said Ruy. After 40 years of living in New York, he transplanted to Los Angeles just a few weeks ago.

This fall, Edge will have approximately 35 students in its inaugural class, but over the next two to three years Ruy hopes to grow that number to 60.

Edge is a vast departure from the format of a traditional architectural school, said Ruy, and a unique approach to helping students launch new types of careers – from building amusement park rides, to working in film.

“Architecture is not just about constructing buildings,” said Ruy. “It’s a very important part of it, but I think the definition of what architecture is should expand, and be a little bit more far-reaching.”

Staff reporter Hayley Fox can be reached at [email protected]. Follow @EPfox on Twitter for the latest in L.A. news.