Xi'an Jiaotong Liverpool University, BEng, Architecture

The programme provides you with a comprehensive foundation in architecture. The curriculum is centred on progressively articulated design studios, where students are confronted with various scales of design, from small buildings to the urban dimension, and with the issue of sustainability in all its facets and implications. These are complemented each semester by lecture-based modules ranging from theory of architecture and philosophy of arts, to materials, construction and environmental design, from urban studies to professional practice. Unlike other programmes, history of Asian and western architecture are both integrated and equally important in the curriculum. This is the first Bachelor of Architecture at a Chinese university to receive validation from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). In their last accreditation report, the RIBA board commended the ambitious vision of the department and the university, the dedication of the staff and the provision of “exceptional workshop facilities, studios and resources”, as well as the diversity and richness of the design briefs. In previous visits the department was also praised for "creating a distinctive environment in which students learn from an international and Chinese context with an ambition to produce a new type of graduate, with an emphasis on human-centred architecture, for the emerging global context", and for promoting an "alternative model for Chinese architecture education [...] challenging both Western and Chinese educational paradigms for architecture and design".