Università degli Studi di Parma

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First cycle degree

Architectural science

COD. 3002
WEBSITE
A.Y. 2010/2011
CLASS:
L-17 - Classe delle lauree in Scienze dell'architettura
Years of study: 3
Credits (CFU): 180
Mode of study: full-time

COURSE STRUCTURE DIAGRAM WITH CREDITS

CORSO GENERICO (curriculum)

Year of study: 1

Year of study: 2

Year of study: 3

Admission requirements

In order to be admitted to the degree course candidates must possess a high school diploma or other qualification obtained abroad and recognised as equivalent. A closed number of students are admitted annually to the course (art. 1 of Law 264/99) as established by the Faculty Board, and are selected according to a nationwide test in compliance with current legislation and which is held simultaneously at the main Italian universities.
The essential academic qualifications required to take the admissions test are those which are drawn up in accordance with the ministerial curricula for high schools in the areas of general knowledge, history, mathematics and physics as well as technical drawing.

Key learning outcomes

The degree course in Architectural Science will be geared towards the creation of a professional profile with the capacity to understand architectural works in their technological, formal, compositional, structural and construction aspects. The field of application of this knowledge will also be aimed at historical and environmental contexts and at the redevelopment of existing buildings. Graduates’ specific skills will regard supporting activities to architectural and urban planning, as well as the construction of the building work and the implementation of redevelopment measures. These objectives will go to form a professional profile which, after the state examination has been passed, will enable graduates to practise the profession as provided for by the corresponding level of study (junior architect, junior planner, junior civil engineer, etc.). During the three years the course will aim to gradually build up knowledge of the eleven subject areas, in compliance with Directive 85/384/EEC.
It is felt that the amalgam of such knowledge (relating to design, structural, technological, urban planning, representational, restoration and historical aspects, etc.) must be at the basis of an organic, harmonic interaction between the various subject areas, in order that students may acquire it as a foundational element of a valid grounding in architecture. The course will be taught both through workshop activities and through single-subject, integrated courses. The first two years will concentrate on workshop-based teaching while the third will take the form of integrated or single-subject studies.

Career opportunities

Graduates of this degree course in Architectural Science will be able to work as technicians in the architecture field in specific areas of local and national public administration, in particular in departments responsible for the design and planning of building works and urban development measures, as well as institutions dedicated to the study and knowledge of historical architecture, such as the superintendencies.
They may also find professional opportunities with private firms operating in the field of architecture and with professional firms of engineers, architects and urban planners, working directly with these professionals on preparation and surveys as well as materials summarising the measures required by the project. After passing the state examination, graduates may practise their profession freely as provided for by the corresponding level of study (junior architect, junior planner, junior civil engineer, etc.), as per ISTAT classification, group 2 class 2 category 2 of the various professions listed.

Knowledge and understanding

Graduates will be required:

• to have adequate knowledge of the history of architecture (assessed by means of specific examinations at the end of the courses in History of Ancient, Medieval, Modern and Contemporary Architecture and in Modern and Contemporary Art History), as well as the instruments and forms of representation and methodological aspects of mathematics. They will also be required to be familiar with the basic principles of geometry and other applied sciences (including descriptive geometry), enabling them to interpret and describe typical problems in defining the forms of architecture in space (assessed by means of a specific examination at the end of the Architectural Survey course). Learning outcomes achieved will be assessed through specific workshops, attendance of which is compulsory and which, with the support of constant practical exercises, will aim to produce a final piece of work which summarises the course overall, constituted by the mathematics workshop, the Mathematical Analysis examination and the representation workshop;
• to possess adequate technical and scientific knowledge regarding behavioural and physical/technical aspects connected with man-built environments. The learning outcomes achieved will be assessed within the single-subject courses by means of a specific examination in Industrial and/or Environmental Applied Physics.

Applying knowledge and understanding

Graduates will be required:

• to be able to intervene upon existing works of architecture through the application of knowledge and of structural and technological characteristics, with specific notions of the most widespread theories of restoration; learning outcomes achieved will be assessed through specific examinations in the area of construction features of historical architecture and architectural surveying, as well as the theory of restoration. Specific experiences in the area of materials and construction elements will be part of the course, including visits to construction firms and seminars aimed at bringing students closer to the world of work in the area of the construction components of architecture;
• to be able to work, through the use of up-to-date methods, techniques and instruments, on the construction and structural aspects that are intrinsic to the process of producing buildings, as well as their technical and legal feasibility; learning outcomes achieved will be assessed through construction and technology workshops, attendance of which is compulsory and which, with the support of constant practical exercises, will aim to produce a final piece of work which summarises the course overall. Students’ attainment of the expected results will be assessed by means of an integrated examination on materials and construction characteristics, a construction workshop examination on elements of statics and construction science, in addition to a technology workshop on the technical and technological aspects of architecture;
• to be able to use the techniques and instruments required for the design of architectural works, including through groupwork and collective experiences resembling those encountered in work settings in the field of interest, at a level which including through the use of advanced textbooks takes in knowledge of state-of-the-art topics in the field of architecture; learning outcomes achieved will be assessed through design workshops for each year of the course, of the type described above. Expected results will be attained after passing a specific design workshop examination in both the first and second years, as well as the final summary workshop.

Making judgements

Graduates will be required to have the ability to gather and interpret data considered useful for establishing independent judgements originating from archives, legislative texts and computerised databases in order to develop their own thinking with regard to the urban planning solutions proposed; learning outcomes achieved will be assessed through specific examinations upon completion of the courses in Analysis of Urban Systems and Local Planning, as well as Quantity Surveying and Legislation.

Learning skills

Graduates will be required to have developed the learning capabilities necessary to undertake further studies (in particular the Master’s degree in Architecture offered by the Faculty) with a high degree of independence; learning outcomes achieved will be assessed through an overall assessment of graduates’ academic progress as well as a work placement at professional firms or institutions in the field of architecture.

Communication skills

Graduates will be required:

• to be able to use one language, in addition to Italian, chosen from English, French, German and Spanish, effectively in both spoken and written form; learning outcomes achieved will be assessed through a specific test with mother-tongue teachers;
• to be able to apply their knowledge and powers of understanding in order to demonstrate a professional approach to their work and to possess adequate proficiency in planning, upholding arguments and solving problems in the field of architecture. Learning outcomes achieved will be assessed through specific presentations which may use suitable multimedia instruments with particular reference to the final summary workshop in which their expositions will be displayed publicly; students passing this assessment will gain eligibility to be awarded the degree;
• to be able to communicate information, ideas and solutions to both specialist and non-specialist interlocutors by means of the most modern computerised systems for documenting, processing and simulating results; learning outcomes achieved will be assessed through the use of these instruments in various public presentations of the results of examinations in individual subjects as well as of the final summary workshop.

Final examination, if any

Students must pass, with a satisfactory mark, the final summary workshop directed towards the development of an architectural project whose field of enquiry and application extends from details to the urban dimension.