The School of Architecture’s undergraduate architecture program combines the intensity of a professional education with opportunities afforded by a world-class research university. Our rigorous curriculum emphasizes design, as well as history, technology, representation, and structures. Early on, students are introduced to basic conceptual skills and the fundamental elements of architecture. They learn to communicate their ideas through models and drawings, working fluidly and seamlessly between analog and digital representation. In later years, they apply lessons learned to both real-world and speculative problems.
STUDIO LEARNING
At the center of the student experience is a sequence of studio courses that serve as laboratories of innovation. Studio learning encourages dialogue, collaboration, risk-taking, innovation, and learning-by-doing. Studio also fosters a close, tight-knit community and our students forge relationships that last a lifetime.
The design studio offers a synthetic form of education, where project-based learning becomes the foundation for developing an understanding of and commitment to the school's core values — broadmindedness, interconnectivity, professionalism, exploration, and activism — all in service of architecture's fundamental mission: to improve the quality of the built and natural environments.
DEGREE TYPES OFFERED
We offer two undergraduate degrees. A professional five-year degree and a pre-professional four-year degree. The School of Architecture also offers dual degrees, detailed below.
UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES
BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE [BARCH]
A five-year professional degree, the Bachelor of Architecture features a rigorous design-oriented curriculum with a solid foundation in technology and the history of architecture. The degree is evaluated and accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board and contains the required academic coursework to pursue internship, and eventually, licensure.
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN ARCHITECTURAL STUDIES [BSAS]
A four-year pre-professional degree with an optional architectural history track that contains part of the coursework required for licensure. BSAS must be followed by a professional degree to pursue licensure and is an excellent platform for future graduate studies in architecture and associated fields.
DUAL DEGREES
The School of Architecture also offers two undergraduate dual degrees. These include the Bachelor of Architecture / Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering, sponsored jointly with the Cockrell School of Engineering, and the Bachelor of Architecture / Plan II Honors, sponsored jointly with the College of Liberal Arts.
ADMISSIONS INFORMATION
The School of Architecture is one of the smallest academic units at The University of Texas at Austin. Our undergraduate student body exemplifies the diverse constitution of the communities we strive to serve. In support of unique perspectives and experiences, all applications are reviewed with an understanding that excellence may manifest itself in many areas and may be expressed in different forms. Visit our Undergraduate Admissions page for more information and Frequently Asked Questions.
STUDENT WORK
Click for project details.
FOLLOW US
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@utsoaJoin us Monday at 5:00 p.m. for Hector Esrawe’s lecture “No Boundaries: Transiting the Intersections Across Creative Disciplines.”
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@utsoaDesigning for the blind and visually impaired offers a unique perspective on the built environment that is valuable for architects and architecture students who strive to become better, more inclusive designers.
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@utsoaBarkow Leibinger’s exhibition “American A-Frame” is now on display in the Mebane Gallery through the end of October.
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@utsoaAssociate Professor Cisco Gomes’ Construction class recently visited the @continentalcutstone quarry just outside Liberty Hill.
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@utsoaJoin us on Wednesday for a lecture from our new Professor of Practice Dora Epstein Jones. The lecture, “The Order of the Orders,” kicks off at 12:30 p.m. in the Goldsmith Lecture Hall. Link in bio.
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@utsoaOn Monday at 5:00 p.m., Frank Barkow (@fbarkow) of Barkow Liebinger joins us in the Goldsmith Lecture Hall for his lecture “Sticks and Stones.”
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@utsoaMultispecies Lounge is a series of urban furnishings on display in downtown Toronto through Sept. 24 that invites interspecies encounters with urban wildlife.
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@utsoaCongratulations to our 2022-24 Emerging Scholar Tyler Swingle, whose Spring 2023 Advanced Studio “Time for Timber” received an Honorable Mention in the @acsanational / Softwood Lumber Board 2023 Timber Education Prize!
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@utsoaNext Monday, September 11, @craigdykers and @elainemolinar of @snohetta kick off our Fall 2023 lecture series with their lecture “Toward a Peaceable Kingdom.” The lecture is free and open to the public and will take place at 5:00 p.m. in Jessen Auditorium.