Architecture

Program profile

The Bachelor of Arts in Architecture study program at the Technische Universität München provides a sound foundation in the knowledge and techniques that are required for the fields in which modern architects work today.

The study program is project-oriented and takes the form of research-oriented lessons. Accordingly, the education program is able to respond to areas of current research. The overall aim is to provide students with a comprehensive university education that communicates fundamental business skills while simultaneously instilling a sense of responsibility towards the built environment for the tasks in the planning process that they undertake.

Through instruction in each focus area at the Faculty of Architecture – (Architectural Design / Integrated Building Technologies / Urban and Landscape Transformation / Cultural Heritage, History and Criticism) – students will be educated in holistic approaches to dealing with complex systems from the theoretical concept and its cultural context to the development, arrangement and dimensioning of technical and spatial components as well as the usability and appearance of the large technical objects we know as buildings. The energy efficiency and life cycle of buildings as well as the development and design of building elements and systems are further fields that are becoming increasingly important. Issues of sustainability in the social realm and urban and regional planning are also examined at successive levels from the building itself to more fundamental aspects such as climatology, mobility and energy life cycles.

Which further expertise and skills will I acquire?

Completion of the Bachelor of Arts in Architecture study program at the TU München equips graduates to work in all fields of architectural planning and construction. The program provides a level of education that allows students to qualify for professional practice as an architect in accordance with the rules of the Free State of Bavaria Architect’s Law and the EU architectural directives. After a minimum of two years of practical experience, graduates can apply to become a member of the Chamber of Architects, permitting them to submit planning applications and to bear the professional title of architect. In addition, the four-year study course also qualifies students to undertake a master’s study pro-gram with at least 120 credits, which in turn is a requirement for students to register as a licensed architect around the world in accordance with the International Union of Architects (UIA).

After completion of the study program in architecture, graduates of the Bachelor of Arts in Architecture study program at the TU München will have a good understanding of the comprehensive range of aspects covered by the discipline of architecture, and the variety and complexity of the work of an architect, as reflected in the interlinked phases (see the HOAI fee scales for architects and engineers) of a building project. 

Which professional opportunities can I take up with this qualification?

The changing social conditions are placing new demands on the architectural profession throughout the world. Graduates of the study programs at the Faculty of Architecture at the Technische Universität München have the necessary skills to assume a leading role in the planning processes of future global markets.
The national and international fields of activity lie in regionally active architectural offices as well as in architecture firms operating globally, in product and materials development, in the fields of architectural technology, business consulting, in public as well as private administrations and in positions in the building industry.

While the traditional profile of the architect as a designing architect will in future become less and less widespread, the training of architects as designers of social and spatial transformation processes will continue to be useful and relevant in a range of related fields and occupations.
Students should, therefore, take the opportunity to pursue an individual specialization as part of their studies at the TUM and through accompanying periods of practical experience. Students can choose to focus on topics that will be growth areas in the coming decades: energy-efficiency and urban infrastructure, renovation and conversion of existing buildings, architectural informatics or transformation processes in megacities.
Architecture schools in Germany are training more students than the respective local job markets will in future be able to sustain. This is neither a negative nor unwanted development: at present, more than fifty percent of architecture graduates bring their skills to bear in other suitable and related professional vocations.

Architectural studies at the TUM trains architects as generalists. Students learn technical, design and social science competences. The 8-semester regular duration of the bachelor’s study program confers students, after a suitable period of practical experience, the right to apply to be registered as a licensed architect with a Chamber of Architects in the European Union. This freedom allows students to pursue a specialization of their own choosing in their master’s studies, for example in management, humanities or engineering – or in architecture. The TU München offers a variety of suitable study programs. The fact that the bachelor’s degree program confers the possibility to work as a qualified architect enables students to specialize in a direction of their choosing in their later studies, offering a potentially broader range of career opportunities.

International orientation and a willingness to be mobile are increasingly important factors for working as an architect. There is growing demand for spatial designers around the world which will shift as growth regions change in future. The integral period of study abroad in the Bachelor of Architecture study program is a first step in this direction. At the university’s center for innovation and business creation, UnternehmerTUM, students are given the opportunity to develop their entrepreneurial skills and business perspective. Founding a company of one’s own based on a service or technology of one’s own making liberates one from the fluctuations of the job market. Architects have always been entrepreneurs.