Degree in Architecture (leading to masters level)
The architect is responsible for the study and creation of habitable spaces among others, by means of analysis, research and development of techniques and processes.
This work brings together the areas of technical and humanistic knowledge in order to synthesize them in the architectural project. Due to this, the training of an architect is somewhere between science and art: art because it searches for beauty in the form of its work and science because it must have the constructive and stability conditions necessary for construction.
Architecture creates territory, modifies the environment and adapts to the needs of society, creates spaces, cities and builds the framework where society can develop.
Degree description
| Degree | Degree in Architecture |
| Branch | Engineering and Architecture |
| Minimum duration | 5 years |
| Crèdits ECTS | 300 + Degree Final Project |
| Basic formation | 60 |
| Compulsory | 210 |
| Optional | 30 (12 Internships) |
| Degree Final Project | 30 |
| Places | 60 |
| Timetables | Morning and afternoon |
| Teaching Center |
School of Architecture (Campus Bellissens Reus) |
| Language used |
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Recommended profile
Recommended electives chosen in the secondary education: Art History, Aesthetics, Second foreign language and Artistic Drawing. Subjects in secondary education in which one must be especially prepared: Technical Drawing and Physics.
It is necessary to have a minimum ability in the area of drawing and a basic technical training in physics and mathematics that permits tackling studies to achieve the structural stability of the building, as well as the calculation and the control of natural and artificial parameters that influence the building. Students must have a predisposition for the synthesis of knowledge in different areas, this will help the student in acquiring specific abilities in these studies.
Internships
Internship in the Degree is defined as an elective subject due to the high compulsory nature of the degree. Consequently, the optional nature permits a flexible mechanism to adapt internship credits to the offers of the host offices, these can be totally or partially exchanged for specialized elective subjects.
The intention of the internship is that the student develops projects and professional activities related to urban and territorial planning, as well as cataloguing, protection and intervention projects related to architectural heritage. The intern also needs to have the possibility of performing activities related with the professional competencies of the architect in the fields of design and technology and, finally, must participate in activities related to companies of the construction sector in which the architect intervenes professionally.
Objectives
The main objective is to train professionals with a comprehensive knowledge of all areas related to scientific foundations, theory and practice of architecture and ability to lead the development of projects and adapt in an efficient manner to the rapidly evolving environment.
Degree Final Project
Having completed the 300 credits of the curriculum, the presentation and defence of a degree final project is expected, with an equivalent duration of 30 ECTS. The presentation and defence of the project is performed before a university jury in which renowned professionals can participate.
The goals of this project are:
- Adequately develop the specific, transversal, and nuclear competencies in a comprehensive project in the field of architecture.
- Integrate theoretical knowledge with the realities of the project.
- Apply the appropriate techniques of the scientific field on a specific project.
- Develop an analytical, creative and critical spirit at the moment of defining and implementing a project.
- Critically understand, analyse and use sources and bibliography.
- Prepare a concise, coherent discourse that communicates results of the project.
- Correctly explain, in Catalan/Spanish or English, a coherent overview of the completed project.
Competencies
The profession of an architect is regulated by current legislation. Therefore, all these regulations clearly establish competencies that students must acquire, which are the following:
- Ability to create architectural designs that satisfy both aesthetic and technical requirements.
- Knowledge of the history and theories of architecture as well as the arts, technology and human sciences, and fine arts as a factor that can influence the quality of conceptual architectural.
- Knowledge of urbanism, planning and the techniques applied in the process of planning.
- Ability to understand the relationship between people and buildings, and between these and the environment, as well as the need to relate buildings and spaces that are located between these reflecting on the needs and human scale, understanding the social function of the architect in the development of projects.
- Knowledge of methods of investigation and preparation of construction projects.
- Comprehending the problems of structural concepts, construction and engineering linked to construction projects.
- Knowledge of physical problems and different technologies as well as the function of buildings in order to have internal conditions of comfort and protection from climatic issues.
- Capacity of conceptualization in order to satisfy the requirements of the users of the building, also respecting the imposed limits of budgetary factors and construction codes.
- Adequate knowledge of the industries, organizations, regulations and procedures to translate projects into buildings and integrating the drawings in the planning.
Professional Career Opportunities
The scope of work of the architect is defined by current legislation, since it must take into account that it is a regulated profession. Some of these fields of activity correspond to two large areas: design and technology, that correspond to the design and technical modules of the curriculum, and they are the following:
- Building projects intended for housing and facilities
- Urban and territorial planning
- Environmental sustainability
- Urban projects and landscape
- Design of interiors, spaces and furniture
- Structures consultancy
- MEP consultancy
- Building restoration and rehabilitation
- Legal architecture, appraisals and valuations of properties
Teaching and research are also areas of work of the architect in their specialties, from teaching technical drawing and construction trades to historical research in the field of architecture and applied research in systems and components of the construction sector.
The forms of professional practice have evolved from the free exercise of the profession, with private offices, to a significant number of architects working for someone else or for the Administration. It is frequent to find partnerships between architects according to criteria of specialization and also the grouping in multidisciplinary teams, including professionals from other fields. Professional tasks that people with a degree in architecture will perform are the following:
- Drafting of design and construction documents of buildings and facilities as well as construction supervision.
- Drafting of urban and regional planning at different levels.
- Drafting of development projects and construction supervision.
- Landscape studies and intervention projects.
- Drafting of interior design projects and furniture design.
- Studies and calculation of structures.
- Design and calculation of MEP systems.
- Study of pathology and drafting of building rehabilitation projects.
- Reports, surveys, appraisals and valuations of properties.