The Department of Architecture at Monash University was established in 2007, with the inaugural cohort of students enrolling in March 2008. The introduction of Architecture was part of a strategic expansion of the Faculty of Art and Design under the leadership of the Faculty's founding Dean, Professor John Redmond. This initiative was supported at the university level by Vice-Chancellor Professor Richard Larkins and aligned with the broader ambition to position Monash University as a globally engaged, interdisciplinary institution capable of conducting research in the built environment.

John Redmond convened a panel of eminent practitioners and academics — Geoffrey London, John Denton, Desley Luscombe, Carey Lyon and Brit Andresen — to develop thematic directions and curriculum for the new course. This group was supported by practising architect Andrew Simpson, who assisted with background research. He and his firm WSH Architects later designed the Department's home on Level 2 of Building F on the Caulfield campus.

Foundational Vision

From its inception, the department was conceived as a design-led, research-driven program sitting alongside art and design rather than in a technical engineering context. Design and making situated in the complexities of Melbourne were fundamental tenants of the department.

Its early pedagogical framework advanced an expansive understanding of architecture's urban ambit, foregrounding design's role in shaping Melbourne's social and spatial realities. Particular attention was given to housing, middle-ring development, and suburbia, domains often overlooked in architectural discourse and at other schools in Melbourne and Australia, yet central to contemporary urbanisation.

This framework treated architecture as an active agent in producing and responding to context, coupled with a distinctive integration of practice-based research that leveraged design inquiry toward tangible outcomes, bridging speculative work with applied, built, and policy impacts. The first-year curriculum reflected this ethos through an innovative design-make program, while the broader course repositioned the architect's responsibility beyond completion. Students not only designed but built projects at 1:1 scale, working directly with clients to gain firsthand exposure to how their work affected communities and end-users, underscoring the social dimensions of practice.

The program positioned architecture as an active cultural project, grounded in the premise that design makes culture. This was reinforced through a distinctive integration of practice-based research, where design inquiry was expected to produce tangible outcomes, bridging studio experimentation with applied, built, and policy research impacts. This commitment translated into a significant series of successful, student-led Design/Make Projects throughout the program's history, through which students tested ideas about architecture's cultural role in producing built form. The strength of this approach was affirmed when the course underwent AACA accreditation and received no recommendations for improvement, the first such outcome in the accreditation panel's history.

In further educational developments, the Undergraduate Course now includes multiple double degree options with Engineering, Business, IT, Fine Art and Design, and Masters Course now offers a three year program for non-cognate students.

Research Culture and Program Expansion

The department's research culture was initially cultivated by academics within the department in parallel to those within the Monash Architecture Studio (MAS) – a research practice platform for design-led inquiry and external translational research impact. Subsequently, research from both streams were consolidated within the Monash Urban Lab, expanding the department's capacity to engage with cities, governance, and applied urban research.

In April 2016 Monash University became the first university to obtain Malaysian validation for its architecture programme following a Board of Architects Malaysian visit the previous September. A major milestone in urban based research was the development of the Master of Urban Planning and Design (MUPD) in 2016, formally launched with the appointment of Foundation Professor Carl Grodach in 2018, who served as inaugural Course Director of the Master of Urban Planning and Design program.

The program introduced a distinctive model in which urban planning and urban design are integrated through a studio-based framework, aligning teaching and research through live projects, policy engagement, and spatial investigation. This positioned Monash as a leader in design-integrated urban education, bridging disciplinary boundaries between planning and architecture. In further expansions, the Future Building Initiative was established at Monash in 2019 and Informal Cities Lab was established in 2018.

Growth and Maturation

Since its establishment, the department has experienced substantial institutional growth, reflecting both academic and research maturation:

• Student enrolment has grown from a small inaugural cohort of 66 in 2008 to over 900 students, establishing the department as a major academic unit within Monash
• Research income has expanded from a few hundred thousand dollars annually to over AUD $4 million year-on-year, demonstrating a strong and competitive research culture

This growth has been accompanied by an expansion of disciplinary scope, including the integration of urban planning and design, and the development of research platforms addressing contemporary urban challenges, sustainability, and spatial practice.

Contemporary Position

Today, the Department of Architecture at Monash is a globally engaged, design-led school situated within one of Australia's leading research universities.

Under current leadership, it advances a focused agenda around:

• Decarbonization and climate-responsive design
• Indo-Pacific and Southeast Asian urbanism
• Design as a form of research and knowledge production

Building on its founding ethos, the department continues to position architecture as a critical and projective discipline, capable of shaping cities, cultures, and environmental futures.

Leadership (2008–present)

Erik L'Heureux (Head, 2025–present) currently leads the department focusing on decarbonization and climate responses across the urbanizing Indo Pacific. He continues to build on foundations set by predecessors Shane Murray (Head, 2008–2011; Dean of MADA from 2011-2023), Diego Ramirez-Lovering (Head, 2011–2016), Ari Seligmann (Acting Head 2016-2018), Naomi Stead (Head, 2018–2020) and Mel Dodd (Head, 2020–2023; currently Dean of MADA) and Kathy Waghorn (Acting Head 2023-2024).