The Faculty of Architecture is situated on the Delft University campus near the historic city centre of Delft, famous for its eighteenth-century architecture. Owing to its central position, Delft has played an active role in the history of the Netherlands, not only in science (Anthonie van Leeuwenhoek) and culture (Hugo de Groot and Johannes Vermeer), but also due to the fact that it was the residence of the first Prince of Holland, Willem van Oranje.

3300 students (2100 Bachelor, 1200 Master, 0 PhD), 13% of foreign students.

842 staff members (168 full-time and approx. 674 visiting lecturers and critics).

Contact school for more information.

www.tudelft.nl  (Study, Master of Science, Master programmes, Architecture, Urbansim and Building Sciences, Admission and application)

EU/EFTA nationals: € 1,771 per year (2011)
Non- EU/EFTA nationals MSc: € 12,650 per year (2011)

April

Bachelor of Science, BSc Architecture, 3-year programme, Bachelor, 180,

Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree, garantees admission to all Master programmes.

Master of Science, MSc, 2-year programme, Master, 120,

Master of Science in Architecture degree.

Master of Science in Building Technology degree.

Master of Science in Urbanism and Landscape Architecture degree.

Master of Science in Real Estate and Housing degree.

The faculty offers academic education and carries out research in Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences. In September 2002 the faculty introduced a Bachelors/ Masters model, consisting of a broad three years Bachelors course (six semesters) followed by a two years Master courses (four semesters) in (1) Architecture, (2) Urbanism, (3) Building Technology, (4) Real Estate and Housing and (5) Landscape Architecture.
The leading language of the master course is English. The content of the curricula is not exclusively determined by the demands of professional practice but also by innovative insights of a research driven programme.

In Delft students acquire their basic knowledge during the Bachelor’s programme, including courses which are part of the university-wide institutional package. The development of design skills is central to the programme: a semester-long integral design-project forms the core of the six semesters where the knowledge and skills taught in other programme elements (fundamentals of Architecture, Technology, Media, Management) are applied in the design-process. The final sixth semester offers an elective programme oriented at orientating the student to one of the specialized Master programmes. A successful completion of the Bachelor grants admission to the four Master of Science programmes of the Faculty. Additional admission requirements can be needed if one chooses to apply for a Master programme in a university other then the DUT.
According to the competencies in designing (see facing page) the Bachelor student:

– is able to reformulate ill-structured design problems. Also takes account of the system boundaries in this. Is able to defend this new interpretation against the parties involved. // has creativity and synthetic skills with respect to design problems. // is able (with supervision) to produce and execute a design plan. // is able to work at different levels of abstraction including the system level. // understands, where necessary, the importance of other disciplines (interdisciplinary). // is aware of the changeability of the design process through external circumstances or advancing insight. // is able to integrate existing knowledge in a design. // has the skill to take design decisions, and to justify and evaluate these in a systematic manner.

The five Masters are Architecture, Building Technology, Real Estate & Housing, Landscape Architecture and Urbanism. Each specialisation offers one or more programmes and electives, culminating in a final project and finally leading to a Master of Science degree.
Within the programme of the MSc.- Architecture students are offered a range of choice between four integrated courses and elective courses. The programme provides a large degree of flexibility in the first year of the MSc within an ordered curriculum including the possibility tospend up to one semester at a partner university of TU Delft (second semester). The Architecture Track’s educational programme addresses a wide range of social issues such as the design and layout of the built environment, the growing demand for high quality homes and residential districts, urbanisation processes and density strategies, the management of building supplies, architectural integration of infrastructure and the accessibility of public facilities, sustainable construction and the development of new building materials and structures. The MSc-Building Technology specialization and the Architectural Engineering specialization both cover a wide range of disciplines and share a common base in the first year. The methodology is based on an integrated design process in which design, research and technology are reinforced with topics such as product development, materials science, building physics, climate design, structural mechanics and structural design, design of construction, computation and modelling, and production techniques.

The MSc-Real Estate & Housing specialization is aimed at design, development and management processes of the built environment and urban areas. It is focussing on the lifespan of real estate in the broadest sense and deals with its complexity in ethical, cultural, societal, functional, technical, economical, legal, organizational and computational terms through the phases of initiative, preparation, execution and use. The first semester is mandatory for all RE&H students and outline the general field of the discipline. From the second semesters onwards four distinct programmes are on offer: Design & Construction Management, Real Estate Management, Housing and Urban area Development.

The MSc-Landscape Architecture specializationcovers all aspects of the discipline – from planning to design practice, from theoretical considerations to practical exercises, and from research to policy-making – from the perspective of architecture and design, and in the context of the urban realm. It examines crucial topics such as lowland landscapes and the urban realm through a scientific lens, and is linked to a parallel research programme in Urban Landscape Architecture through methods, projects and researchers. Real-life projects developing core design skills are the centrepiece of the programme. In addition to design skills, you will learn about plants and vegetation types, soils, hydrology, ecology and sociology.

The MSc-Urbanism specialization centres on urban and regional development including landscape architecture and ecological planning in relation to social issues. The programme builds on a unique urbanistic tradition that has been able to develop in the Netherlands. In the first two semesters a mandatory programme focuses on technical aspects in Design & Technology and on societal and political aspects in Design and Strategy.

Graduate School of Architecture and the Built Environment

The Faculty offers increasingly the opportunity of Doctoral Education (PhD), covering the full scope of Design, History, Engineering, Planning and Management in Architecture and the Built Environment. You can conduct a PhD-research within the framework of the research groups Architecture, Computation & Performance, Design & History, Green Building Innovation, Housing, Real Estate & Project Management, and Urbanism.

The specific characteristics of the faculty’s research are referred to by the concept of ‘design-oriented research’. Central to the discussion on ‘design-oriented research’ is the level of scientific rigour of the design activities. These activities involve building theory, appropriate research methods, communication patterns, scientific critique, and so on. This scientific rigour, however, has to be balanced with specific contextual demands of this field such as reflection and creativity in the design process. The concept thus encompasses a broad typology of research activities situated on an imaginary axis ranging between intuitive design on the ‘art’ side of the axis towards optimizing scientific research on the ‘science’ side of the axis. This broad typology is reflected in the various ways in which the concept of ‘design-oriented research’ is defined by the different Research Groups. The following categories of research can be distinguished:

[1.] evaluation research, which is characterised as the empirical study of existing objects and processes. It analyses the effects and consequences which manifest themselves once architectural objects or processes have been realised.[2.] historical research, which interprets, understands and explains designs, while taking site characteristics into account. [3.] conceptual research is exploratory and experimental and aims at innovative, revolutionary concepts, manifestos and visions of the built environment. [4.] practical research is research done for educational purposes and for professional practices and refers to the research architect’s need to find optimum solutions for certain building assignments.

The Faculty of Architecture comprises seven research groups (including one joint group with OTB): Architecture, Design & History, Computation & Performance, Green Building Innovation, Urbanism, Real Estate & Housing, Innovations in Management of the Built Environment, Housing Quality.