Architecture Education: The Latest Architecture and News

According to the UN, the elderly population not only exceeds the population of children in developed nations, but will increase more rapidly than any other demographic over the next 50 years -- in fact, it could even triple.

Although most countries deal with the elderly population through institutionalized care, whether public, as in Canada or in Great Britain, or private, as in the U.S., the quality of care is widely divergent. It’s therefore fitting - and necessary - that the physical environment’s effect on elderly care is becoming a more prominent issue for research. 

One institute that is leading the way in this research is the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Architecture and Urban Planning’s Institute on Aging and Environment.

The RIBA and Arb have teamed together to examine UK architectural education, with the aim of bringing the UK into line with other EU countries.

The move is part of a new EU directive, due to be ratified next month, which seeks to establish more uniformity across Europe by aligning the time it takes to qualify and by making mutual recognition of title easier between countries - a move which would make architects more free to move between countries.

Read more about the aims of the RIBA and Arb after the break...

At Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Architecture, prospective students are likely to find a course of study that will interest them. The School’s newly revised undergraduate curriculum allows students to choose studios in their 4th and 5th year that concentrate on breadth or depth in the following topics of interest: Sustainable Design, Digital Design, Management and Critical Practice, Design/ Build, Urban Design, and Future Studios. For example, students interested in digital fabrication, computational design, and new materials may choose to concentrate in Digital Design.

Finland is consistently ranked by several different organizations, amongst them the UN, as the top in student’s education, well-being and even overall human development rankings. These factors make pursuing higher education in Finland equally appealing. Why? Because in a country that is highly ranked for human development indices like life expectancy, and GDP per capita, and world happiness, the standard of living is most likely to be good for students as well. This is an important consideration for architecture students who often experience enormous stress within the studio culture which dominates most curriculums.

At Tampere University of Technology, not only can students benefit from a high standard of living, but they can also pursue a degree, conducted entirely in English, at all three degree levels: Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral. Within those degree levels, the major areas span the range of practice-oriented architecture curriculums to those focused on theory and research. Focuses include Architecture, Architectural Construction, Architectural Design, Architectural and Urban Research, History of Architecture, Housing Design, Urban Planning and Design and Theory of Urban Planning and Design.

Architecture school should provide an environment to explore issues alongside practical skills and professional training. Ideally, there will also be opportunities to work with faculty and students in fields that complement architecture. Add a campus situated at an international city and you have The University of Hong Kong.

Located on the island of Hong Kong, HKU’s program is not one single entity but rather, it is a consortium under the Faculty of Architecture, what other universities refer to as a “college.” The Faculty of Architecture includes the departments and divisions of Architecture, Real Estate and Construction, Urban Planning and Design, Landscape Architecture. In addition, it also runs the Shanghai Study Centre. Sited in Shanghai, it provides a public arena for conferences, houses a public gallery. Interdepartmental as well as inter-university studios are also conducted there.

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The Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design opened its doors three years ago. 110 students, 30 teachers and over 200 international experts took part in developing a radically new intellectual and physical space in Moscow. This collective effort resulted in a unique research, educational and public center, looking at the complex problems of a Russian city. Strelka Institute studied urban environment and the nature of its transformation, as well as changed the world around us.

Within three years of its existence, Strelka’s educational programme developed several broad themes. In their projects students researched “Public Space”, “Design”, “Preservation”, “Thinning”, “Urban Culture”, “Hinterland”, “Megacity”, “Information”, “Education”. Student projects and research, while remaining inherently student work, made a significant impact on the evolution of public discussion in Moscow, helped introduce the notion of public space into the Russian context and focus public attention on the theme of urban development.

In 2013-14 Strelka will select the theme of its research & design studios differently. We are radically shifting perspective and in the framework of intensive three month research studios are focusing on very concrete, real and seemingly familiar matters.

Applications for this program are open until July 26th. Read more about the program:

The Berlage Institute closed in 2012. But the Berlage Center for Advanced Studies in Architecture and Urban Design is open for business. And it is accepting students. Located at the Delft University of Technology, though they are independent entities, the new, re-visioned Berlage is not simply a continuation of the original Berlage. Instead, it has been reinvisioned to train students who already have either an M.Arch or a five-year degree.

The Berlage challenges students to understand the issues and principles surrounding the economy, the environment, and society as the route towards good architecture. History and cultural issues are therefore central to this Master’s of Science degree, as they should be. Because in today’s economy, the formula for success demands more than just an agility with computer programs. Students need to be able to exercise critical thinking skills. Unfortunately, many school studios fetishize style over substance but when their students graduate, they are ill-trained.

Traditional histories of Urbanism have seen the city as something separate from nature, organized according to its own rules and conventions. Given the current emphasis on environment and sustainability, and recent experiments in the sustainable urbanism, it makes sense to revisit the history of the city from a new perspective. This seminar will look briefly at the history of the city from the 19th century to the present through the lens of landscape and nature. Beginning with Haussmann and Cerda, we will look at Fredrick Law Olmsted and the City Beautiful Movement, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Broadacre City proposal and post-war suburban development in the US, ending with the emergence of Landscape Urbanism in the late 1990’s.

Social justice. How can that be achieved? At Portland State University School of Architecture, faculty and students are exploring just this issue in different forms. Often when people think of Portland or the state of Oregon, images of “crunchy” eco-“warriors” come to mind, but these issues are not simply proxies for a lifestyle or consumer choices. Rather, when discussing people and ecology, the issues are about resources. Specifically, how do humans use and allocate resources to promote fair, well-distributed advancements rather than exploitation, oppression and conspicuous consumption.

The Architectural Association announces the 2013 edition of the DLAB, the intensive computation and fabrication oriented workshop. The workshop continues the experimentation of last year's edition, which resulted on the Fallen Star installation.

DLAB experiments with the integration of algorithmic and generative design methodologies as well as with large scale digital fabrication tools. Continuing its color based agenda DLAB will immerse in blue for its 2013 cycle as a way to investigate natural growth processes in relation to innovative concepts of architectural tectonics and fabrication. Blue will become the inspiration for diving into the depths of emergence, differentiation and complexity which are found at various scales in nature. We will carefully interweave these concepts with interaction and participatory design in order to create full-scale working prototypes. The programme will be formulated as a two-phase process. During the initial phase participants will benefit from the unique atmosphere and facilities of AA’s London home. The second phase will shift to AA Hooke Park campus and revolve around the fabrication and assembly of a full-scale architectural intervention which will unify the design goals of DLAB.

Some of the most prominent features which the participants will be exposed to during DLAB include:  

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While other architecture students spend their summers strolling the streets, seeing the sights, and contently sketching, you could be getting your hands dirty, turning your designs into reality, and making a difference in a community that needs you.

Every summer, Global Architecture Brigades (GAB) activates student volunteers to work with a community in Honduras, helping them alleviate needs in health and education. The program isn’t a lesson in a charity; it’s a hands-on experience of the community-entrenched work of a designer of the 21st century.

Read more about Global Architecture Brigade’s work in Honduras, and how you can get involved, after the break...  

Across the globe, architecture programs are cutting resources and raising fees in an effort to stay afloat. Meanwhile, architecture students feel powerless to demand more - to demand quality, to protest fees, to suggest how curricula could better serve them for the future (a poignant concern in this troubled economy, where even a competitive degree doesn't guarantee post-grad employment any more). 

In this Catch-22 of a situation, what can students do? Well, as any good architect-in-training, they can use their craft to form a solution. 

Which is exactly what, on the 9th of April, 20 architecture undergrads from the University of Sydney did.

More on the University of Sydney students' architectural protest, after the break...

The European Postgraduate Masters in Urbanism (EMU) is a joint program that aims to produce highly qualified, university trained urban designers, physical planners and researchers. The EMU program brings together the strengths and richness of different design approaches and methods, and the long traditions and experiences in urban planning and design of each of the participating universities.

The master course is design oriented and affirms the role of design in the knowledge process, while integrating different levels of scale. Learning by doing, research by design, and the project as knowledge producer constitute the key concerns and standpoints of this European postgraduate master’s degree.

More info after the break.

This innovative post-graduate program is aimed at professionals who wish to play a leading role in cross functional teams engaged in architectural and urban design.

It covers five areas:
·Architectural Design
·Building and Energy Technologies
·Urban Studies
·Contemporary Culture
·Architectural Management

The program is designed to last one year, with rotations between Madrid and Barcelona and provide its students with exposure to the cultural and urbanistic design paradigms which characterize both cities. It is infused with the entrepreneurial and leadership spirit that defines the IE Business School programs. The curriculum integrates hands on design and theory in an environment that invites open experimentation and professional relationships.

In addition to the core curriculum, the IE Master in Architectural Design Academic Advisors offer an international network of professionals and contributors that ensures the program figures prominently within the context of current international architectural debates. More after the break.