Programme summary for BSc (Hons) Architecture
The UEL Architecture Programme is recognisable by its ‘hands-on’ approach, working with the physical exploration of materials and the processes of site and context. As a counterpart to our preoccupation with the physical, the school also has a number of dedicated computer studios which explore more theoretical and virtual models of architecture. The School attracts students from a wide range of countries and communities world wide. The programme provides a cultural platform on which to develop architectural ideas. It is a place to reflect, that enables the architectural idea to become critical. Every member of the School community is expected to take responsibility for their own work and to contribute to the development of innovative architectural ideas. The core of architecture is design, and the main emphasis of our programme is developing your design ability. You will be encouraged to learn and develop your design skills – and your imaginative abilities – through observing, drawing, making and experimenting, using a range of media and materials.
“As well as a fantastic balance between the theoretical and the practical, there’s a range of projects to get involved in and exciting, challenging, and relatively cheap trips to go on. Last year I spent ten days in Japan, and it hasn’t been long since we got back from a five-day trip to The Netherlands.”
Liz Betterton, Architecture,
Graduated 2000
The programmes prepare you to enter the profession through the development of your creative talent in relation to an architectural knowledge base.
It does not replicate office practice, but prepares you by developing and broadening the basis for thinking about making architecture.
BSc (Hons) Architecture Extended Degree - Year 0
If your previous experience of art and design is limited, the introductory year (Year Zero) the Extended Degree will equip you with the skills and experience you will need for the whole range of architecture and art & design programmes offered by UEL.
Through project and studio work you will develop conceptual, practical and creative skills across a range of media, including photography, textiles, colour and 3D work. (See page 70 for more about extended degrees.)
Year 1
UEL’s architecture staff have a particular reputation for innovation in teaching, with unusual freedom to develop the content and teaching method of the programme. This creates a stimulating and exciting environment, with the flexibility to ensure that your individual needs are accommodated.
Year 1 includes a basic, integrated design programme covering a range of disciplines, including workshop and computer skills, photography, drawing and colour. The aim is to develop transferable as well as applied skills, which will form the basis for your progression into Years 2 & 3.
Years 2 & 3
The design studios are an important element in the teaching strategy of the school. Their agenda evolves over time. At present there is an emphasis in urban and landscape intervention and regeneration, together with analytical projects which look at climate and landscape processes. This work explores the physical presence of space through its material boundaries. The Studio system gives you a choice in composing your education, while the core design work develops your expertise by offering the possibility of exploring very different issues.
Each successive year shapes your experience in a particular way and contributes to the profile of the Studio itself. The accumulation of these individual studies forms the architectural education. The supporting studies offer a theoretical, environmental, social and technical basis from which to understand the design work. They provide a separate but interdependent course of study.
About the programme
Our programme is recognisable by its hands-on approach, working with the physical exploration of materials and the processes of site and context. As a complement to physical model making, the School has a number of dedicated computer studios which explore more theoretical and virtual models of architecture.
Design studies are supported by dynamic supporting programmes in technical studies, history and theory, and representational skills.
Programme structure
The programme is only available in full-time mode and as a Single Honours programme.
Career opportunities
The programme prepares you to enter the profession through the development of your spatial imagination in relation to an architectural knowledge base. It prepares you by developing and broadening the basis for thinking about making architecture in practice.
Support
Architecture students come from many different educational backgrounds so the first year of the programme is partly diagnostic. It is organised to develop all the practical skills such as drawing or computer aided design, which an architect needs. Each student has a personal tutor whom they meet at least once a week. The tutor is responsible for guiding your academic development and will give personal support. You also get a lot of support from fellow students because most of the teaching and learning is in small groups working on common themes in the project work.
Admission
300 UCAS tariff points together with three subjects at GCSE level, Grade C or above, including English, Maths & Art
BTEC Art v Design; Interior Design; Construction
GNVQ Art & Design; Construction
ACCESS Art & Design
FOUNDATION Art & Design
Overseas and other qualifications individually assessed
Entry is conditional on an interview over portfolio. We also accept portfolios by post for assessment.
Conditions may be relaxed for mature students or if the applicant shows other evidence of being particularly able to benefit from the programme.
Direct entry to 2nd or 3rd year of the degree is available to students with suitable qualifications.
The School of Architecture and the Visual Arts welcomes applicants with either a science or arts background. A combination of the two is particularly desirable. In selecting students the School looks for evidence of creative potential and willingness to work hard.
Key facts
You can start many programmes in either September or February and applications are simple to make. Click below to:
Apply online Architecture (BSc (Hons))
