Advanced Architecture — From Urban Design to Building Construction

Students gain broad knowledge of design and construction through a combination of lecture series and modules that discuss design and construction in the areas of urban design, design of buildings in existing contexts and built environments, and design of new buildings. These topics are directly related to internationally-oriented projects and a series of elective modules, giving students the chance to focus on their individual interests, which may then become the main focus of their Master’s theses. Moreover, 30 ECTS can be chosen from the German Master’s degree programme in “Design and Construction“ (“Entwurf und Konstruktion”). By intensively studying several contexts from a global, diversity-oriented, and multicultural point of view, students develop an ability to independently translate any abstract design into a concrete implementation of material and construction. They will be able to combine professional, practical, technical, economic, ecological, and social aspects while, at the same time, taking varied cultural, historical, and climatic situations into consideration. In the fourth semester, students write their Master’s theses. The modules complement each other and are linked to one another, for instance, through combined projects, excursions, lectures, conferences, and e-learning. The integrated, international structure of the degree course offers students the chance to have a unique study experience in the future-oriented metropolis of Frankfurt. Course objectives The study programme concentrates on the combination of design and construction. “Advanced Architecture“ means designing and constructing on all scales, from urban contexts to single details. Advanced, future-oriented concepts are developed and addressed in study projects and office internships as well as with the FFin (the Frankfurt University research institute) and in close collaboration with our cooperation partners from the construction sector. In particular, graduates will be able to work at the interface between abstract designs and their concrete implementations. This means a focus on the planning phase, referred to in the German Official Scale of Fees for Services by Architects and Engineers as “execution planning“, with strong feedback on the design process and in close connection with current developments of scientific research in design and construction. Relevant occupational fields of graduates are in architectural, engineering, and construction companies, the construction industry, property development and housing associations, real estate companies, and the public sector as well as the research and technological development of design and construction.