Study

Of all the arts architecture and urban planning are the most public.
Urban planners and architects have the complex and responsible task of designing a built environment which incorporates beauty and diversity to create a liveable future. They respond to economic, social and technical change, developing visions and plans for the world of tomorrow.Their point of departure is existing building stock; their objective is to find viable solutions which take account of all the parameters. The creative design process is at the heart of this study program.Students are taught a wide spectrum of subjects: construction, urban design and planning, presentation and design, principles of building tech-nology, architecture/planning history and theory, and social and economic principle

The architecture and urban planning study program generally leads to a Masters degree.

This allows to further the studies in the frame of a doctoral research. It also allows the holder to be admitted to the Chamber of German Architects, an essential requirement to practise as an architect or urban planner.

Students aspiring to a career as an independent architect or urban planner must apply to the master's program. A faculty commission will decide whether the applicant has the necessary subject-specific quali-fication on the basis of the documents submitted with the application.The final element of the master's program consists of the master's thesis, which is generally completed in the fourth semester. In their master's thesis students must demonstrate their ability to provide solutions within a creative design process. The basis for this will be broad-based discussion of aesthetic concepts, technical innovation and the significance of ecological and economic issues and will be laid during the first three semesters in projects and seminars to be selected by the students themselves. Students are also required to carry out one project and take one seminar in a field which has relevance to that of their master's thesis.

Applicants to the master's program must have a bachelor's degree from a university or institute of higher education.Experience abroad is also desirable; this is expressly promoted through the Bachelor [International+] at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning in Stuttgart. Decisions on admissions to the bachelor's degree program will be taken by a faculty commission on the basis of the application. The first two years consist largely of lectures and exercises which will give students a sound basis for subsequent semesters. In the frame of first design projects they will also begin to acquire skills in developing solutions to complex tasks. The third year consists of largely autonomous project-based study, in fields chosen by the student.

At this comparatively early stage students can thus pursue lines of study which match their own interests and skills and which can be reflected in their choice of subject for the bachelor dissertation