Bachelor of Science Architecture
The undergraduate curriculum in Architecture introduces students to methodologies to critically understand and creatively transform the built environment. Design innovation requires creativity, technical knowledge, cultural awareness, risk-taking, and meaningful questioning. Our curriculum uses design as a mode of critical inquiry to explore questions and pose new visions for a range of scales, all of which constitute the disciplinary realm of architecture: from cities, territories, infrastructure and buildings to rooms, installations, furniture, and clothing. The first year of study is a shared Common First Year curriculum, wherein students take courses in three School of Architecture departments: Architecture, Urban + Environmental Planning, and Architectural History.
125 CREDITS
The Bachelor of Science Architecture is a 4-year undergraduate degree with a minimum of 125 credits.
PREVIEW OF SELECT AY 24-25 COURSES
Undergraduate students entering the School of Architecture share a Common First Year Curriculum. Students take core courses in three School of Architecture departments: Architecture, Urban + Environmental Planning, and Architectural History to provide a framework for the study of contemporary culture through observation, analysis, and design. During the spring semester of the first year, students choose an intended major: Bachelor of Architectural History, Bachelor of Science Architecture, or Bachelor of Urban and Environmental Planning.
During the spring semester of the first year, while completing the Common First Year, students choose an intended major: Bachelor of Architectural History, Bachelor of Science Architecture, or Bachelor of Urban and Environmental Planning.
Those that choose the Bachelor of Science Architecture path will continue to complete a studio-based curriculum that is supported by courses in history/theory, building technologies, design research methods and more. Each semester, students will take a studio (6 credits) and other core courses taught within the School of Architecture, supported by electives taughts by departments across the University.
WHAT IS THE 4+2?
With the Bachelor of Science Architecture, our students will be considered for advanced placement in the professional Masters (graduate) degree program, typically known as a 4+2 education sequence. Our students are eligible to obtain their professional graduate degree in a total of 6 years, including the 4 years of undergraduate study at UVA. Our graduates have consistently been accepted to the top-ranking M.Arch. programs across the nation, including our own.
Our undergraduate students also have the added value of learning alongside our graduate students, in cross-listed research studios and to be taught by the same award-winning faculty teaching within our highly-ranked graduate programs.
A Minor in Architecture provides students with an opportunity to develop a basic understanding of, and appreciation for, architecture as an important component of culture and the built environment. The Minor in Architecture is offered to all students at the University. Students who complete the Minor range from those whose major is in a related field and who wish to expand the boundaries of that endeavor, to those considering graduate study in architecture.
The Design Minor leverages the strengths and unique disciplinary practices of the four departments in the School of Architecture (Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Urban & Environmental Planning, and Architectural History). The curriculum is grounded in the disciplinary practices of design, while incorporating expertise from numerous allied disciplines and fields of study. The main objective is to serve a wide population of undergraduate students throughout the University who are interested in complementing their current course of study with the methodologies of Design Thinking, spatial and material practices, and the strategies of creative problem-solving.