Architecture has been taught at the University of Manitoba as far back as 1913. The curriculum was organized in a four-year program leading to the degree Bachelor of Architecture. In 1920 it became a part of the newly established Faculty of Engineering and Architecture. In 1933 a Masters of Science in Architecture was initiated. In 1938 a three-year diploma program in interior decoration was established. In 1945 the Departments of Architecture and Interior Decoration were granted school status as the School of Architecture and Fine Arts. Three years later the school reorganized to become the School of Architecture with a five-year program in Architecture and a four-year program in Interior Design. In 1949 a one-year graduate program in Community Planning, open to graduates in Architecture of Civil Engineering, was established.

The John A. Russell Building was completed in 1959, being the first building in Canada to be designed exclusively for a School of Architecture. Architecture garnered Faculty status in 1963. In 1966 the Senate authorized the curriculum of Architecture to include a three-year program leading to a Bachelor of Environmental Studies as prerequisite to a degree in Landscape Architecture or Architecture. In 1970 the Master of Architecture degree was introduced; it was followed by the Master of Landscape Architecture degree two years later.