CURREV – Studiengangsinitiative Bachelor in Architektur

Implementation of the Course

The BSc program is restructured into four streams: Architecture & Art, Histories & Building Culture, Environment & Society and Building & Technology reflecting the multidisciplinarity of architecture studies (s. Study Plan). Unlike the old curriculum, these streams run across institutes fostering transdisciplinary collaboration in teaching and research alike. In addition, the three years build on each other incrementally: In the first year, ‘Foundations’, students learn the basics of design from a multidisciplinary perspective in the integrated design studio «Studio Foundations». In the second year, ‘Positions’, they learn about different architectural approaches and how to position themselves within them. During the third year, ‘Explorations’, they design their individual learning path by being given more choices and reducing the amount of contact hours in order to foster self-driven learning and reflection. The whole process towards revising the curriculum was set up as a participatory process with all stands from the department and through large assemblies, retreats, and working groups (s. fotos). Active student engagement has been deliberately designed as a pedagogical opportunity: students were supported to negotiate, and formulate evidence-based proposals, thereby developing civic and professional agency while shaping the curriculum that teaches them. The result of this process is a competence-oriented curriculum that builds up a holistic set of competences incrementally over the three years. This sequence was aligned with help of the D ARCH Competency Chart (C-Ch, s. PDF). All professors together mapped competencies within 30 competence clusters for the new architecture profile of BSc students. The outcome was further developed though workshops including all stands of D ARCH. This project also introduces a competence-oriented assessment model, the Competency Compass (C-Co). This model, based on the Chart, ensures continuous feedback between teachers and students and provides a visual representation so that students can track their learning progress throughout the semester. It also includes an online application to facilitate easy and efficient handling of both formative and summative assessments for large student cohorts. Based on a thorough monitoring of the current situation, we recalculated the future workload based on better distributed credit points over the three years and working hours within and outside of the semester. An important structural change is the reduction in subjects and exams through the integration into ‘Studio Foundations’ and a reduction in courses in the higher semesters. End-of-semester exams will create a more direct link between lessons and exams. It also results in smaller blocks and therefore a better rhythm of workload and recovery throughout the year. One noticeable result of the participatory revision process is that lecturers increasingly talk to each other

Motivation, Project Mission, Vision Statement

Our mission is to offer a clear, distinctive, and attractive BSc in Architecture that addresses present and future societal and environmental challenges and the demands of a diverse labour market in architecture and related fields. The programme sustains D ARCH’s unique profile—strong ties to practice, close attention to construction, and design as both skill and attitude—while deepening alignment with departmental research in the digital, fabrication, history and preservation, and climate, thus remaining competitive in Europe and globally.

The curriculum introduces students to the full breadth of architecture, preparing them rigorously for the ARCH MSc, opening pathways into non consecutive D–ARCH Master’s programmes, and enabling transitions to other disciplines. We increase curricular freedom incrementally towards the end of the BSc allowing students to shape personal study trajectories and thereby cultivate critical thinking and self responsibility.

The BSc provides a strong foundation across the disciplines, knowledge forms, and skill sets which architecture encompasses, in order to enable students to develop personalised profiles at MSc level. It forms future ready graduates able to address urgent issues, notably the environmental crisis. To this end, it fosters a rich, demanding, inclusive, and safe learning environment that draws on varied teaching methods and experiences.

Innovative Elements

Revising in a participatory process (s. above) acts as an educational tool in itself, building identity and a culture of discourse within D ARCH; students and teachers alike practice self-organization and responsibility. The competence-oriented curriculum (s. above) fosters high complexity and an interconnected teaching culture by aligning courses and years, promoting dialogue among lecturers, and synergy across courses and disciplines. These structures have lasting, interdisciplinary impact on the department for years to come. Tools such as the Competency Compass make abstract learning processes visible and measurable. In project-based education 2.0, new pedagogies like the integrated first-year design studio are introduced. For the first time at D–ARCH, architectural design is taught collectively by an interdisciplinary team. This shifts the focus from a single professor to a collective, moving away from «starchitecture» toward collaborative approaches and multiple perspectives.

Effects on Student Learning

Competence-oriented assessment: Through the C-Co for Design Studios in the 1st and 2nd year, we aim to assess students‘ performance in a more holistic and differentiated way. Lecturers will assess how successfully students apply newly acquired competencies in formative & summative assessment mode.

Multidisciplinary learning: For the first time, architectural design will be taught collectively by an interdisciplinary team in the first year. Hence, students will learn design in all its complexity right from the start.

Reduced Workload (s. above)

Continuous monitoring process instead of a one-time evaluation: Through yearly Rating Conferences, course and exam evaluations, and course monitoring in the UK, effects of the revision will be messured, flaws revised and updated courses improved. This will turn the project into a living laboratory that is constantly evolving.