Master in Architecture Curriculum: Architectural Design

The Master's programme offered is open to students coming from inside and outside of the European Union, who wish to obtain a Master's Degree in Architecture awarded by the School of Architecture in Florence, Italy. The courses are held in two languages: Italian and English.

The aim of the Master's Degree course in Architecture is the training of an “Architect” according to the requirements of knowledge and skills as defined by the European Union Directive EC 1985/384 and subsequent 2005/36/EC. The course lasts two years and meets the requirements set by the EU Bologna Process.

Graduates in this class of degree may, after passing the state exam, enrol in section A -field “architecture” of the Italian Professional Association of Architects, Planners, Landscapers and Conservator-restorers as expressly provided by the DPR No.328 of 5 June 2001.

The course is organized in two semesters per year, corresponding to 60 credits, for a total of 120 credits. As envisaged by the learning programme, the student who reaches the total number of credits may graduate even before the end of the expected biannual period.

Cultural statement

The Master Course in Architecture is based on these main assumptions:

the design of contemporary architecture, its techniques and its methods are related to the cultural heritage and landscape of cities and regions; sustainability provides a general balance between human needs, spaces, buildings, products and nature; cooperative working involving different people and cultures adds additional quality to the scientific programme of the course.

The University of Florence dates back to the Studium Generale set up by the Florentine Republic in 1321. It has had very famous scholars (Galileo Galilei) and professors as well as the two most recent Italian Prime Ministers (Giuseppe Conte and Mario Draghi). Only in 1923 however, the University acquired its actual name and was transformed into a modern comprehensive university, with its 21 Departments and 10 Schools.

The Unifi offers 127 Bachelor's Degrees 57 Masters's Degrees, 9 Long-cycle degrees, 24 PhD Programs and over 50 specialization schools. Amongst those programmes, over 40 are international: 10 taught in English and 31 with double or joint degrees. Within most degree programs, courses in English are offered.

Unifi is one of the most popular Universities for Erasmus students (over 900 incoming a year) and is part of EUniWell, a European Universities Alliance. The network has identified four key areas for research and teaching, closely linked to UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The University of Florence is one of the most important Italian public universities and has a strong international vocation. It fosters cooperation with academic and research institutions all over the world and welcomes foreign teaching staff, researchers and students to promote cultural and scientific internationalization. To this end, through its Departments and Schools, the University promotes the hospitality of highly qualified guests from all over the world.

Moreover, it traditionally devotes particular attention to the development of collaborative relationships with foreign universities and to the process of internationalization, which has become a strategic and dominant aspect of the life of the university in research, teaching, the organization of study programmes, mobility of teachers, researchers and students.

For these reasons, the University of Florence qualifies itself as one of the privileged destinations for international guests.

Welcome Service

The Welcome Service helps international students, PhD students, fellows, researchers and professors hosted by the University of Florence within specific European or International projects to find suitable accommodation in town.

The Welcome Service can book the guests in the university residences and other local accommodation facilities and provides information on online platforms for finding accommodation.

Studying in Florence

One hundred and forty-six degree courses (first and second level and single-cycle) of which 15 are in English, organised into 10 Schools, a total population of around fifty-one thousand enrolled, a quarter of whom come from outside the region. The University of Florence is a large university, with a very wide range of courses spanning all subject areas. There are over nine thousand graduates every year in Florence. Moreover, the percentage of Florentine graduates in work one year after graduating is above the national average, according to Almalaurea data.