Teaching

Why do we create architecture, and how can we create architecture in an adequate way? These are the questions that architects are confronted with, today and tomorrow. On the one hand, practice consists of applying technical knowledge. On the other hand, the ability to identify situational interrelations, to interpret and to evaluate them is becoming increasingly important. With regards to current challenges and transformative processes in the built environment and society, architects need to further expand their knowledge on building. This engineering-based knowledge is substantiated by architectural theory, which contributes to a reflective awareness of what is necessary in practical terms as an immanent aspect of construction and design disciplines.

Research and theory within the Department “Theory of Architecture and Design” (TAE) are based on a triple approach:

architectural history as a history of architecture, building science as a means to classify buildings, architectural and urban theory as self-orientation within the discipline.
This reflects a set of questions comprised of when? how? why? and corresponds to communicating basic knowledge in the Bachelor Program as well as the advanced knowledge and reflection in the Master Program. Integrated forms of teaching and learning including lectures, seminars, design projects and field trips serve to answer these questions. The character of the topics and methods is influenced by synergies between architectural theory, building science and social sciences and humanities. The Bachelor Program introduces a basic set of methods. Students in the Master Program acquire the ability to independently select and employ adequate methods. This enriches students’ design projects and broadens their individual horizon.