Designing your dream career: Top 3 universities to study architecture degrees

A career in architecture can be lucrative, fulfilling, and secure. On average, an architect can earn up to US$107,945 annually. Whether it is designing new structures, re-inventing designs or restoring an old building, these require architects and built environment experts to not only flex their technical know-how, but also their creative and critical thinking skills. 

Today, the field is evolving quickly to advancements in technology and in response to the climate crisis. From 3D printing to automation and artificial intelligence, emerging technology is reducing the number of mundane tasks and allowing architects to focus on more creative endeavours. It’s a big change, but one that’s crucial in a world racing to limit global temperature rise and stave off disaster. Architecture can and has been called upon to “rapidly transform the built environment from the major emitter of greenhouse gases to a central solution to the climate crisis.” 

For students, this is an opportunity to make a difference while pursuing a meaningful and rewarding career. Here are three top architecture schools to start designing your dream career at:

Students at this university strive to be creative and find value in their work. Source: Dalhousie University (Facebook)

Dalhousie University

An education in Canada can open many doors. An accredited programme in planning and architecture from Dalhousie University can do just that, paving the way to a broad range of careers (think becoming a digital planner for Uber) — and so much more. 

The School of Planning offers a Bachelor of Planning (BPlan) and a Master of Planning, and the School of Architecture offers a Bachelor of Environmental Design Studies (BEDS) and a Master of Architecture (MArch). What makes these programmes outstanding is not just the full accreditation for the bachelor’s programmes, but the opportunity to gain practical work experiences through cooperative education – a unique element of the learning experience offered by Dalhousie.

Students in architecture and planning further benefit from learning in a collaborative environment with a strong hands-on approach from faculty members who are leaders in accessibility design, clean transportation, intelligent building material development, and designing a cleaner future. Pair this with work-integrated learning, and students gain the practical skills to tackle a range of design challenges in the built environment and are ready to capitalise on a hot job market where there are 120 jobs for every 100 students.

This dynamic path to success is set in Halifax, one of the fastest-growing cities in Canada. Just steps from the downtown core and the majestic Atlantic Ocean is the School of Architecture and the School of Planning at Dalhousie, where students experience a vibrant urban design approach within the context of an ocean environment. Tour the Halifax Campus and design your future now.

Southern California Institute of Architecture is dedicated to educating future architects who can imagine and shape the future. Source: Southern California Institute of Architecture (Facebook)

Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc)

Innovative, experimental, radical – student projects at this Top 10 architecture school are anything but dull. From “The Perfect Boyfriend Builder 4.0” to the “genesis of new artificial terrains,” graduating M.Arch 1 and M.Arch 2 students presented new perspectives in architecture and design in recent exhibitions. They were displays of the strategic skill sets SCI-Arc has equipped them with, and a sign of all the potential they are set to harness from the applied research and cross-disciplinary experience gained here.

“In terms of aspiration, what we at SCI-Arc want the thesis to be is an absolutely vital first step towards a professional life; that’s the best that it has to offer as a pedagogical, academic, and professional tool. Another important aspect of the thesis is not only each individual finding their voice, but also providing a place for all voices in the school to be expressed,” explains SCI-Arc Director Hernán Daz Alonso.

Offering undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate programmes, SCI-Arc is strategically housed in the historic Santa Fe Freight Depot located in the Arts District of Los Angeles. Surrounding it are architectural landmarks such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Chinatown and the Mayan Theater; on campus, it’s an integrated suite of resources that support academic progress and experimentation.

“Since it first opened in 1972, SCI-Arc has been relentlessly expanding and raising its ambitions. Now is not the time to ease off the gas pedal and relax,” shares Hernán Díaz Alonso, SCI-Arc Director/CEO. “Rather, now is the time to accelerate. The scope of what SCI-Arc represents and offers to the world should keep multiplying. In our globalised era, design matters like never before, and we have the capacity to astonish the world by showing it all the different ways in which design can transform it.”

Since its founding in 1909, this university has become one of the most distinguished schools in the country. Source: University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture (Facebook)

University of Texas at Austin

Ranked among the biggest and best research universities in the country, the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) is home to a large connected community of over 51,000 students and 3,000 educators. Here, the aim is to provide students opportunities to participate in groundbreaking research while enjoying cutting-edge teaching and learning techniques. 

At the School of Architecture, where over 500 students are flourishing, the theme persists. Founded in 1909, it has built a reputation as one of the most distinguished schools of architecture in the country. In fact, the 2016-17 Design Intelligence survey ranked UT SOA sixth for its Bachelor of Architecture Programme and 12th for its Master of Architecture degree programme. 

The school itself provides surroundings that inspire. It is housed in four adjacent historic buildings at the heart of the campus: Battle Hall; Sutton Hall, designed by the American architect Cass Gilbert; Goldsmith Hall, designed by the French architect Paul Philippe Cret; and the West Mall Office Building, built by the Texas firm Jessen, Jessen, Millhouse, and Greeven. Within their walls is convenient access to literature, information, visual, and digital resources that support the development of additional expertise in the field of architecture. 

An offering that stands out is its Graduate Programme in Sustainable Design, which is interdisciplinary and research-based. For this degree, scholars are both part of a specialised, close-knit cohort of Master of Science in Sustainable Design(MSSD) students as well as members of the larger Architecture programme and UT Austin campus community. 

They can draw from the sizable and wide-ranging knowledge of faculty within the school and across the university. Facilities and laboratories allow for sustainable design research at various scales and scopes to complement students’ academic experiences. 

*Some of the institutions featured in this article are commercial partners of Study International