Structure of the study program
The course has a modular structure. One module deals extensively with one subject area. You will receive credits for successful participation.
In each semester, you will work on a large design project. It is accompanied by various technical and design subjects.
The elective modules give you the opportunity to specialize. We offer you a variety of options, for example in the areas of building history, sculptural work, clay construction, interior design or architectural photography.
Module overview
1st semester
At the heart of the course is the integrative design project, which is fed as a real laboratory with current practical tasks. In the projects, students deepen their knowledge of Architecture and train their design concept skills across the entire breadth of the profession. This ranges from urban planning derivations to work planning. Focal points such as minimum resource consumption with maximum design and usage quality and optimizations in organization, construction and implementation planning promote design services with special consideration of sustainability and weighing up the interests of all those directly involved with those of the general public.
Social responsibility towards people and the environment has always and currently very much determines the planning of Architecture. In the Construction and Materials module, this fundamental conviction is the basis for consideration. Ecological, energy-efficient, social and Economics topics, which are summarized under the term Sustainable Architecture, are the content of the teaching.
The Construction and Material I module focuses on new buildings. With the parallel consideration of function, form finding, construction and material selection, the topic of sustainable new construction is taught in all its complexity.
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2nd semester
The working methods and approaches learned in the first semester are deepened. Depending on inclination, skills are supplemented in other subject areas, with other approaches and instructors.
Over the course of several semesters - also in combination with other master's degree programs - the following focal points emerge: Urban Planning, Building in Existing Contexts, Monument Preservation Management, Construction and Building Climatology, Interiors.
The Construction and Technology II module focuses on old buildings and the planning and construction process. The resource of old buildings is the simplest energy and material store and thus has enormous potential for sustainable Architecture. The renovation, modernization and conversion of existing buildings are among the greatest past, present and future tasks of architects. At the same time, existing buildings offer an enormous cultural
- Energy assessment of façade constructions (transmission and ventilation heat losses)
- Energy supply through technical systems for heating, cooling, ventilation and hot water supply
- Primary energy credits and integration of regenerative forms of energy
- Building and component modeling in application software
- Development and comparison of building component and TGA variants
- Evaluation and interpretation of variant comparisons
- Modeling and balancing of an individual design concept for a residential building and examination of its functionality and serviceability. The modeling is carried out using Building Information Modeling (BIM) methods.
- Introduction to aspects of urban climate (comfort, regional climate, climate elements) and gray, blue and green infrastructures with calculation examples
- Prevention of hot spots and minimization of peak rainfall runoff values
The module provides access to questions in the field of Architecture and Building History and imparts the necessary historical and methodological knowledge. Students learn to analyze existing buildings with regard to their historical development and significance, including through intensive source research and precise building analysis.
In addition, questions from the field of Monument Preservation Management or the handling of existing buildings can be dealt with. To this end, students are taught basic knowledge of Monument Preservation Management and Monumentology, which they learn to apply to specific case studies. This enables them to classify the values inherent in or attributed to buildings/ensembles (in terms of urban planning, architecture, art, construction, etc.).
Students learn to develop their own questions and select the research methods required to answer them. They also practise the basics of scientific work with precise research and presentation methods and the writing of their own texts.
The module "Architecture Theory + Urban Research" deals with fundamental architectural issues and overarching thematic focal points from architecture theory and practice as well as from recent architecture and urban research.
Approaches for a research-based and analytical examination of Architecture and space are conveyed, which are based on an interdisciplinary set of instruments, theoretical reflection and methods of scientific work. This will develop a deeper understanding of the diversity and change of Architecture as a cultural, technical and social practice in the context of urbanization processes as well as a sensitivity for the integration of Architecture in historically specific social and spatial contexts, from the local to the global, across locations and scales.
The students' critical judgment is trained by examining architectural and spatial science positions as well as concrete spatial situations at different scales.
Students learn to develop their own questions and select the research approaches necessary to answer them.
Methods of scientific analysis of Architecture and built spaces, methods of analytical thinking as well as the comprehension and representation of complex contexts at different scales (urban spaces, architectural forms and typologies, materials, details, etc.) are trained.
Students also learn and practise the basics of scientific work with precise research and presentation methods in text and images.
3rd semester
The third semester focuses on a design project, which can be offered and taken across several master's degree programs and is a real-world laboratory that is fed with current practical tasks. In the projects, students deepen their knowledge of architecture and train their design skills across the entire breadth of the profession and even beyond related professions (Architecture, Urban Development, Monument Preservation Management, Real Estate Project Development). Focal points such as minimum resource consumption with maximum design and usage quality and optimization in organization, construction and execution promote design performance with special consideration of sustainability and weighing up the interests of all those directly involved with those of the general public.
In the last regular semester before the thesis, students have the opportunity to network with the other master's degree programs and prepare for the master's thesis in the following semester in the project.
- Current action plans and legislative frameworks in the context of sustainability (German Sustainability Strategy, ESG criteria, Circular Economy Package, etc.)
- Holistic consideration of the life cycle of building facilities (planning, construction, operation, dismantling/conversion/demolition phase)
- Strategic options for efficient use of resources in all areas
- CO2 or life cycle assessment of building materials / components / building resource passports
- Durability / recycling / disposal of building materials and / or components
- New material developments, innovative construction methods, technologies in the context of sustainability
- Sustainability assessment of buildings and neighborhoods
- Processes and roles in sustainability planning
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- Urban planning history, urban Monument Preservation Management, planning theory
- Landscape and open space planning, ecology and environmental protection
- Building regulations law, urban planning law and regional planning law
- Real estate economics
- Project development
- Current topics in Architecture and Urban Planning
4th semester
As part of the Master's thesis, an architectural solution for a complex problem must be developed independently. The work to be performed is customary in competitions. The topic must be worked out in drawings and in writing.
The Master's thesis is defended in a presentation using plans and a model. The presentation can be individually accompanied by analog and digital media.
