Master of Science in Engineering: Architecture (Urban Design and Architecture)

The programme gives access to broad and specialized knowledge about architecture and related knowledge areas. The range of course units enables you to develop your own profile according to your interests and intellectual strengths, ranging from a specialization in construction, over expertise in the city and landscape to architectural-historical and theoretical research.

For that purpose, the Master’s programme contains two main subjects. The main subject Urban Design and Architecture focuses on the design of the building in its environment. Via urban design (among other things), students are introduced to the knowledge and problems inherent to designing on a larger scale.

Each main subject offers mandatory course units on architectural-scientific and construction matters that are relevant to the scale level that is being studied. Each main subject also includes studio work. A number of course units on engineering and preliminary vocational training are common to both main subjects. Choosing from a range of design studios and elective course units, you give further shape to curriculum. The design studios provide you with the opportunity to familiarize yourself with the lecturer’s vision on architectural design.

A fair share of the programme is devoted to research seminars with alternating topics based on the staff’s current research (Advanced Topics) As these seminars are a preparation for academic research, you make a choice that is informed by your Master’s dissertation topic. The Master’s dissertation is an independent piece of academic work in which you elaborate on a design or research question.

The programme’s flexibility allows you to either thoroughly specialize in a main subject, or to continue to cover the full breadth of architecture, from construction detail to city, from practice to theory.

Part of the Master’s programme is English-taught. This prepares Dutch-speaking students for the international professional environment in which they will end up after graduation. The English-taught part of the programme also attracts international students. In addition, the programme stimulates participation in study abroad initiatives (Erasmus), during which students gain international experience at universities abroad.

The degree in Engineering: Architecture offers ample professional opportunities in the broad and international field of both the construction sector and a wide range of architecture-related professions. Some graduates establish themselves as independent architectural designers after a two-year work placement with a recognized architect-work placement provider and after recognition by the Order of Architects. Others work as structural engineers, site managers on large-scale projects or they specialize in sustainable construction, air-conditioning, etc…

Architectural design has increasingly become less of an individual affair and graduates are well-prepared to work in collaboration with other architects, urban planners or engineers on a variety of assignments, ranging from structural detailing to landscape design. Their professional activities take place in the private as well as in the public sector, e.g. services dealing with the built environment, historical monuments, infrastructure or the landscape. Other graduates work in the cultural sector or continue in research and education, either at home and abroad.

In short, the study programme’s solid basis and its built-in opportunity to develop your own profile, gives access to a range of career possibilities.