Architectural and Cultural Heritage (M.A.)

This program consists of four semesters and which are broken down into three taught semesters of instruction and one semester dedicated to writing the Master’s Thesis. The modular framework of each semester encompasses two compulsory foundation courses. During the first semester, the emphasis is placed upon the study of Theory of Heritage and European Architectural History. The second semester is devoted to the material study of Inorganic and organic materials like stone and wood. Practical foundations and comprehensive knowledge of art periods, materials and traditional production techniques are conveyed. The third semester has compulsory courses related to monumental heritage in contexts of Gardens and Landscapes and Urban Design. The fourth and final semester is dedicated to writing the Master’s Thesis. 

The remaining credits are to be earned from optional subjects, which range from Cultural Heritage of Quedlinburg (in collaboration with Deutsches Fachwerkzentrum Quedlinburg e.V.), Naumburg or Bauhaus. Seminars on wood and stone conservation and restoration techniques, building with clay and earth are delivered by subject specialists. 

At the end of the fourth semester, the Master’s Thesis is drawn up within a timeframe of twenty weeks, following which the oral examination/ viva takes place. Theses are supervised and final examinations are taken in presence in Dessau or in Online mode.

Curriculum is designed in a manner so that a student has flexibility of designing his own learning path.

Contents:
The course contains History of monument preservation, Basics of monument preservation, building history and construction analysis and History of representative architecture.

Learning Outcomes:
Students will have an insight to the basics for art-historical characteristics in differentiated cultural areas, be able to read the history, construction method and social necessity of a building is the goal of the course and understand the context of textures, materials, and colors in the monument landscapes will be taught and learned.

Contents:
The course contains the History of construction and building techniques from Roman antiquity to the modern era and the 21st century and scientific work of defining a research question, developing and testing hypotheses, and presenting their findings in a professional manner orally and in writing in the field of architectural research.

Learning Outcomes:
Students will be able to apply the methods of documentation and analysis of buildings, ensembles and their local conditions, explain, recognize and assess the influence of European building history on other cultures, prepare a comprehensive study of the history of change and development of an European building and to recognize and discuss general and building-specific aspects of European construction history as a reflection of the possibilities and innovative content of the buildings under study.

"Research Methods and Practice" course has been designed for Graduates in Architecture, Interior Design, Landscape Design or Civil Engineers.

Contents:
The course contains scientific theoretical basics, citation formats, source criticism, introduction to archives and library science, research phases explanations, and sustainable research.

Learning Outcomes:
Students will be able to prepare, conceive and carry out a scientific work, recognize, evaluate and interpret important sources, deal with archival and source material, to compile a scientific catalog and to practice source criticism and find appropriate forms of presentation.

"Architectural Drawings and Measurements" course has been designed for Graduates in Art History, Tourism or other Theoretical Objects.

Contents:
The course contains understanding architecture documents, Basics of HOAI and VOB, Basics of building law, Architecture and culture, Representing, valuing, documenting, (measuring) and Components such as windows, doors, stairs from a design point of view.

Learning Outcomes:
Students will understand the fundamentals of design, construction and surveying and how they are related: become familiar with the systematics and elements of all three disciplines via analysis by having a basic knowledge of construction processes, planning and legal principles. You will learn measurement as an application in the understanding of architecture and the specific way of conversation or argumentation (technical vocabulary).

Contents:
The course is designed to expose students to the large group of organic buildings in their diverse constructions and their variations in renovation. Contents: The course contains building methods and constructions made of organic material, organic building materials, properties and characteristic values, tent constructions, technical light constructions, statics and details of half-timbered buildings, renovation of organic buildings and mapping damages.

Learning Outcomes:
Students will gain technological knowledge of organic building materials (thatch, straw, clay, wood, timber framing, etc.), Basic knowledge about the manufacturing and construction process, preservation of historical monuments or renovation in different cultures and learning and ability to apply the mastery of terminology in organic building techniques.

Contents:
The course contains building methods and constructions made of inorganic materials, mineral building materials, properties and characteristic values, representative architecture and constructive peculiarities of massive constructions in other cultures.

Learning Outcomes:
Students will gain a technological knowledge of mineral building materials, Knowledge in basics about the construction of solid structures in building history, preservation of historical monuments and renovation, knowledge of the manufacturing processes of mineral building materials and ability to apply the mastery of terminology in the technology of mineral building materials.

Contents:
The course contains teaching of ideal-typical city layouts over space and time up to modernity and postmodernity, analysis and comparison of historical city quarters, mediation of structural-spatial and socio-cultural transformation processes of international city complexes, mediation of overlays of historical layers in the city, identification of methods for inventory, mapping, analysis, preservation, further development of historic cities into the 21st century and infrastructure and supply systems.

Learning Outcomes:
Students will gain knowledge of the interrelationship of the social-cultural relevance of historic districts and their meanings for civil society, knowledge of transformations and over formations of historic districts and buildings and ability of recognizing the problems of urbanity is part of the module content.

Contents:
The course contains European gardens, gardens in other cultures, Cemeteries and sepulchral culture, Gardens in the Renaissance up to gardens of the modern age, UNESCO World Heritage Site Dessau-Wörlitz Garden, Change and transformation in gardens and parks, Basic knowledge of botany and design concepts, Challenge of climate change in historic gardens and preservation of historical monuments in practice using the example of a federal state.

Learning Outcomes:
Students will gain knowledge of the background and intentions in the recitation of gardens in cultural history, knowledge of the main forms of gardens in Europe and understanding of social and governmental task. Students will earn essential basic technical knowledge of garden and landscape design, these will be taught to students through selected examples on site during walk-throughs.

Contents:
The thesis topic should be monument-centered topics and problems with a focus on archaeology, art history, building research or monument practice.

Learning Outcomes:
The students should show that they are able to work on and present a topic from the field of historic preservation independently and coherently according to scientific methods.

Discussing and presenting the academic thesis in a 40 minutes session.