Archinect - News

The world's best architecture masters programs for 2023, according to BAM

2023-09-19T17:51:00-04:00

The 2023 edition of the Best Architecture Masters (BAM) rankings has just been released, featuring a slate of 19 graduate programs from across the world that were selected using an internal methodology by a 15-member “Expert Committee” of academics.

American Ivy League institutions once again dominated the top tier of the rankings, with Harvard GSD’s Master of Architecture II program taking home the first place spot for the fifth consecutive year. BAM says its list was influenced by other rankings guides, including the most recent QS World Universities Architecture / Built Environment subject list, in addition to its internal methodology, adding: “This approach allows us to make an international-comparative study, that reflects the best architecture master’s programs from almost all over the world.”

The Universidade de São Paulo, University of Manchester, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and Tsinghua University were new additions to this year's list.

The full BAM rankings...

RISD announces withdrawl from U.S. News & World Report's Best College rankings

2023-02-15T15:40:00-05:00

The Rhode Island School of Design announced its decision to withdraw from the U.S. News & World Report's Best College rankings on February 13, a move that joins more institutions that are turning away from the highly-criticized process.

RISD President, Crystal Williams, explained that "principally, Rhode Island School of Design does not measure the value of our students or our academic programs based on the same factors used by U.S. News & World Report. Our educational model is predicated on three primary ways of learning: visual, material and intellectual."

Hyperallergic's Rhea Nayyar reported on the design school’s decision to abstain from the popular higher education guide, which has come under scrutiny over the last decade owing to claims of favoritism, the broader manipulation of young people along lines of prestige, and presumed career success after ...

Criticism around U.S. News Best College rankings targets a culture of deception at the top of higher education

2022-09-12T16:16:00-04:00

The annual U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges list has just been released, opening up a fresh channel for the ongoing debate over the value of and methodologies used in ranking institutions of higher education.

A focal point of the 2022 rankings is Columbia University, which dropped from 2nd to 18th place after being a mainstay in the top ten for several decades. The decision by U.S. News to demote the Ivy League institution came after the publication of a damning investigation from mathematics professor Michael Thaddeus wherein he outlined a deliberate fabrication of statistics meant to game the already flawed and disputed methodology. The scandal is notably the second in recent memory after a 2012 investigation uncovered similar tactics at George Washington University that went on for a period of decades.

A look at the other top-ranked schools in the 2022–2023 National Universities list with academic degrees in architecture offers a reflection of similar rankings, such as Bes...

16 architecture deans criticize and opt out of DesignIntelligence school rankings

2022-09-06T19:14:00-04:00

Academic ranking systems, and their methodology, in particular, are once again at the center of a nationwide conversation that has brought together the deans of sixteen prominent architecture schools. In a recently-published joint letter, the signees voice their concern over what they call "lack of rigor" — and the subsequent negative implications on the design community — of the annual DesignIntelligence survey and ranking, describing it as "out of touch" with the goals and ambitions of their respective programs.

"However well-intentioned they may be," the letter states, "we believe that the DI rankings have the potential to create a disservice to the public." The deans express their disappointment that, despite allegedly sharing their concerns with the DesignIntelligence leadership and following a short hiatus at the beginning of the pandemic, the publication returned as "ratings" instead of "rankings."

Acknowledging that many of the represented schools have done very well in past...

The best architecture masters programs of 2022, according to BAM

2022-08-16T14:11:00-04:00

The annual Best Architecture Masters (BAM) ranking has just been published for 2022. Featuring some of the world’s most prestigious and competitive graduate programs, the list has been historically dominated by American Ivy League schools as well as other premier British and European universities. The 2022 cohort is no exception, with Harvard GSD’s Master of Architecture II program taking the top billing for the fifth consecutive year.

BAM shares that its rankings are “aimed to help architects and students to get to know the best International Master’s programs available in the world, thanks to our transparent comparative system.”

Using its internal methodology, BAM’s 13-member “Expert Committee” of academics analyzed programs based on 10 educational-performance indicators and 45 sub-indicators.

Here is the list of BAM's top 17 architecture master’s degree programs in 2022:

1. Harvard GSD
Program: Master of Architecture II
Location: Cambridge, MA

2. Columbia University
Program: Maste...

These are the world's ten top architecture schools for 2022 according to QS World University Rankings

2022-04-08T12:45:00-04:00

The 2022 edition of the QS World University Rankings has been released. The rankings include 230 individual university programs in 47 locations around the world for Quacquarelli Symonds’ (QS) 12th edition of the annual list.

Mainstays like MIT, ETH Zürich, the Bartlett, and Harvard remained at the top. 38 architecture departments around the world have improved their ranking this year and 49 declined while 125 remained in their previous place from last year.

Among the movers was the Manchester School of Architecture, which made an appearance in the Top 10 for the first time since 2016. The University of Cambridge is the only 2021 top-ten member missing.

Here are the ten top-ranked universities with architecture schools according to QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022:

BAM releases their 2021 rankings for top master of architecture programs

2021-08-23T12:14:00-04:00

Best Architecture Masters Ranking (BAM) has released their list of the top programs of 2021. Harvard GSD’s Master of Architecture II program ranks first for the fourth year in a row.

22 Master’s Degree programs from around the world were selected to be part of the list by BAM’s “Expert Committee”, which is formed by 15 professors from some of the best-ranked universities. Programs were compared and evaluated through their methodology, in which 11 educational-performance indicators and 42 sub-indicators are used to rank each school.

Below is a list of the top 16 architecture master’s degree programs in 2021:

1. Harvard GSD
Program: Master of Architecture II
Location: Cambridge, MA

2. Columbia University
Program: Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design
Location: New York, NY

3. Delft University of Technology (TUDelft)
Program: The Berlage Post-master in Architecture and Urban Design
Location: Delft, Netherlands

4. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid + ETH Zurich
Program: Master o...

The ten top architecture schools in 2021 according to QS World University Rankings

2021-03-04T17:35:00-05:00

The 2021 edition of the annual QS World University Rankings by higher education analysis firm QS Quacquarelli Symonds has just been released. The research analyzed nearly 14,000 individual university programs from 1,440 universities across 85 locations around the world.

Within the subject of Architecture, the latest ranking confirms the same five schools defending the top five spots for several years now: MIT, UCL, TU Delft, ETH Zürich, and Harvard (in slightly varying order).

Moving up into the top ten in 2021 are Beijing's Tsinghua University and National University of Singapore. Dropping down from the top spots this year are Manchester School of Architecture and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).

Here are the ten top-ranked universities with architecture schools according to QS World University Rankings by Subject 2021:

The top-ranked schools with architecture departments, according to Times Higher Education World

2020-09-09T16:19:00-04:00

Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings has announced its 2021 list of top universities worldwide. Including over 1,500 universities across 93 countries and regions, THE prides itself as the "largest and most diverse university rankings to date."

Within the top schools listed on their site, 16 schools with architecture departments rank the top 20. Read below to see which universities that offer undergraduate and graduate programs made the list.

To view the full list of of ranking schools click here. To learn about THE World University Ranking's methodology click here.

BAM releases their 2020 rankings for top master of architecture programs

2020-08-24T20:28:00-04:00

Best Architecture Masters Ranking (BAM) has released their list of top programs. Coming in at the top for the third year in a row is Harvard GSD's Master's degree in Architecture II program.

According to BAM, the top 29 postgraduate programs have been selected and evaluated using their rating system: eleven key indicators are used to evaluate and rank each school.

Below is a list of the top fifteen master's degree programs in 2020:

1. Harvard GSD
Program: Master's degree in Architecture II
Location: Cambdrige, MA

2. Columbia University
Program: Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design
Location: New York, NY

3. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid + ETH Zurich
Program: Master of Advanced Studies in Collective Housing (MCH)
Location: Madrid, Spain

4. Delft University of Technology (TUDelft)
Program: The Berlage post-master's degree in Architecture and Urban Design
Location: Delft, Netherlands

5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Program: Master of Science in Architecture and...

2020 "most admired" architecture schools according to DesignIntelligence

2019-10-03T09:53:00-04:00

We also survey students, and this year two unexpected results stood out from the 4,000-plus responses we received. First was the 5 percent drop in architecture undergraduate students wishing to go on to graduate school. [...] The second standout was the answer to the following question: “If there were no barriers, what firm would you want to work for?” The No. 1 response overall was to be self-employed.

The DesignIntelligence 2020 architecture school rankings are out! The annual design industry survey asks hiring professionals two basic questions:

"What schools do you most admire for a combination of faculty, programs, culture, and student preparation for the profession?”
“From which schools have you hired the greatest number of (undergraduate or graduate) students in the last five years?”

The responses record the degree to which students have the ability to hit the ground running in their new jobs following graduation, among other factors. The survey, according to DesignIntelligence, assesses how recent graduates perform according to 12 skill areas encompassing knowledge of how buildings come together, communication and decision-making abilities, and digital technology skills. Using the accumulated responses, the organization tabulates top 10 rankings for both graduate and undergraduate programs, shown below.

The Top 10 Most Admired Architecture Undergraduate Programs

1. Cornell Un...

BAM releases their 2019 rankings for top master of architecture programs

2019-08-02T19:29:00-04:00

The rankings are in! With the upcoming school term quickly approaching, where do the world's master of architecture programs stack up? This year, Best Architecture Masters Ranking (BAM) has released their list of top programs. Coming in at the top once again is Harvard GSD's Master's degree in Architecture II program.

According to BAM, the top 30 postgraduate programs have been selected and evaluated using their rating system: eleven key indicators are used to evaluate and rank each school. (view BAM ranking methodology here)

Below is a list of the top fifteen master's degree programs.

1. Harvard GSD
Program: Master's degree in Architecture II
Location: Boston, MA

2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Program: Master of Science in Architecture and Urbanism
Location: Boston, MA

3. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid + ETH Zurich
Program: Master's degree in Collective Housing
Location: Madrid, Spain

4. Delft University of Technology
Program: The Berlage post-master's degree in Archit...

2018 top 10 architecture schools according to DesignIntelligence's new survey questions

2018-09-05T13:18:00-04:00

Each year for the past 19 years, DesignIntelligence has conducted the same survey across the design industry regarding architecture-school rankings. The number of valid responses from hiring managers of architecture and design-professional firms typically range between 2,600 and 3,200, year over year. But this year was markedly different: we had more than 4,500 valid responses, which may reflect the urgency of improving architectural education.

DesignIntelligence has been conducting a yearly design industry survey to rank architecture undergraduate and graduate programs for the past 19 years. For this year's ranking DI has changed their primary question of “Which programs are best preparing students for a future in the profession?” to asking two different questions:

"What schools do you most admire for a combination of faculty, programs, culture, and student preparation for the profession?”
“From which schools have you hired the greatest number of (undergraduate or graduate) students in the last five years?”

Through asking these two questions in the design industry DesignIntelligence has ranked the following schools in the top 10 for 2018.

The Top 10 Architecture Undergraduate Programs

1 Cornell University
2 Rice University
3 Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo (SLO)
4 Syracuse University
5 Cooper Union
6 Rhode Island School of Design
7 Pratt Institute
8 Virginia Tech
9 Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc)
10 University of...

Harvard GSD tops graduate school ranking

2018-08-08T14:58:00-04:00

Harvard GSD's Master in Architecture 2 program has been ranked number one on the 2018 BAM (Best Architecture Masters) Ranking. Different postgraduate study programs have been selected from the best architecture schools in the world in this year edition of the QS Ranking by Subjects – Architecture / Built Environment. Out of these, 20 programs were selected in this year's BAM Ranking, reflecting the best masters programs from around the world.

The Complete University Guide ranks 10 best UK universities to study architecture

2018-08-07T12:53:00-04:00

Every year, a host of lists emerge ranking architecture schools around the world. For some, they serve as a useful guide to choosing where to pursue their studies. For others, the lists are subjective and have little real value.

The Complete University Guide, which ranks university courses according to graduate prospects, entry standards, research quality and student satisfaction, has just released its 2019 rankings for studies in architecture. You can check out the full list or rankings here.

Here, we list the top schools for studies in architecture, according to the Complete University Guide.

Bartlett voted best UK architecture school for 15th year by Architects' Journal

2018-06-07T16:10:00-04:00

The Bartlett has been named as the architecture school of choice by AJ100 practices for the 15th successive year. University College London’s architecture faculty came out top when the UK’s largest practices were asked their favourite school as part of the AJ’s annual poll. This comes despite the Bartlett slipping to fourth in the Guardian’s league table, behind Sheffield, Cambridge and Bath.

Over a fifth of AJ100 practices chose UCL's Bartlett with Bath close behind and no other establishment receiving more than 5% of the votes. The Bartlett was also ranked as the 2nd best architecture school by the higher education network QS.

The AJ100 top five architecture schools:

1. The Bartlett, University College London
2. University of Bath
3. Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow School of Art
4. University of Nottingham
5. University of Sheffield

The top 50 universities for architecture in the world ranked by QS World University Rankings

2018-02-28T16:53:00-05:00

Global higher education analysis firm, Quacquarelli Symonds has released their 2018 rankings of the top universities in the world for the study of architecture and the built environment. Many of the leading names are university mainstays, with MIT topping the list for the fourth year in a row. Of the top 10, three are US-based schools, another three located within the UK, and the rest, scattered across parts of Europe with the exception of the National University of Singapore, which was the only non-Western University to make this top tier. Read on for the top 10 rankings.

You can check out the full list of 200 by visiting here.

SCI-Arc Celebrates a School Year’s Culmination and Welcomes Another

2017-10-03T12:37:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc).

Since its founding in 1972 as an independent school of architecture, SCI-Arc has developed a series of idiosyncrasies that have anecdotally permeated the broader architecture community. Prominent among these is hosting its cap and gown-less Graduation in the middle of September-- literally an hour after its last review of the academic year and a week after the first pin ups of the new school year. This means that September is the most dynamic time of the year at SCI-Arc as it concurrently welcomes in a new class of undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate students and bids farewell to its latest generation of architects eager and ready to imagine and shape the future.

SCI-Arc’s 2017 graduation ceremony was held on Sunday, September 10 and featured a commencement address by architect Marion Weiss, cofounder of WEISS/MANFREDI and B.Arch Graduate Deborah Garcia ’17.

A celebration of student ach...

USC debuts in a "Top 10 Architecture Schools" list, joining Harvard, Yale, SCI-Arc, and UCLA

2017-09-05T17:08:00-04:00

Although Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and UCLA have once again have secured their high-ranking places on the United States' Top Architecture Schools for 2018 (as compiled by Architectural Record based on surveys conducted by DesignIntelligence), the University of Southern California has made significant in-roads on the list. For the first time, USC placed in the top 10 at number five for its undergraduate programs, and number nine for its graduate programs. The surprises don't stop there. According to the survey, a higher percentage than ever of students (15%) aren't planning to take a traditional job at a private practice after they graduate, but rather are aiming to work for non-architectural corporations such as Google.

UCLA. Image: Study Abroad SWE via Flickr

Why is this? It seems the financial sacrifice that most fresh architectural graduates are expected to make for their first few working years is increasingly less attractive, especially in comparison with the relatively healthie...

QS releases 2016 international architecture school rankings

2017-03-08T12:37:00-05:00

QS World University Rankings has just released its 2016 rankings for studies in architecture and the built environment, based on “academic reputation, employer reputation and research impact.” You can check out the full methodology for selecting the schools here.

The top schools for studies in architecture and the built environment, according to QS, are:

MIT named #1 architecture school in the world

2016-04-05T14:24:00-04:00

For the second year in a row, MIT has been named the top university in the world for architecture/built environment in the latest subject rankings from QS World University Rankings. In art and design, the Institute ranked No. 2 globally, a jump from fourth position in 2015. Ten other subject areas at MIT were ranked No. 1. “This ranking is testament to the success of the MIT model of research and teaching and its global commitment to address complex societal problems,” says [Dean] Hashim Sarkis

In related news:

DI releases Design School Rankings for 2013

2012-11-01T20:45:00-04:00

This year’s rankings by deans, administrators, students and practitioners show that there is considerable quality in design schools but also reveals an unrelenting and increasingly dynamic restlessness for renewed strength and fresh relevance. Any drifting away from quality expectations is most certainly the enemy to the design professions of the future.

Architecture, Graduate

1 Harvard University
2 Columbia University
3 Yale University
4 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
5 Cornell University

Architecture, Undergraduate

1 Cornell University
2 Southern California Institute of Architecture
3 Rice University
3 Syracuse University
5 California Polytechnic State Univ., San Luis Obispo

Landscape Architecture, Graduate

1 Harvard University
2 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
3 Cornell University
3 Louisiana State University
5 University of Virginia

Landscape Architecture, Undergraduate

1 Louisiana State University
2 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
3 Pennsylvania State University
4 Kansas State University
5 Texas A&M University

Interior Design, Graduate

1 Savannah College of Art and Design
2 Rhode Island School of Design
3 Pratt Institute
4 Cornell University
4 Parsons The New School of Design

Interior Design, Undergraduate

1 Savannah College of Art and De...