Masters in Architecture

• Type: Master's Degree Course
  • Duration: 2 years
  • Credits: 120
  • Course Class: LM-4
  • Free access

The Master's Degree in Architecture combines the theoretical in-depth analysis of some preparatory subjects for the professional activity with a strong technical design application cut. The teachings of the various design disciplines (architectural composition, restoration, urban planning and architectural and construction technology) are organized in laboratories, where the learner, supported by a part of theoretical teaching, performs in the timetable of lesson an application activity, so that the student acquires more specialized knowledge, but also skills, to design complex and experimental solutions.

The master's degree in Architecture grants access to the state exam for the profession of architect, planner, landscape architect, conservator and civil and environmental sector engineer. Acquirable professional skills cover a very broad spectrum.

The architect has specific competences in the architectural project and, in a more general sense, in civil construction works, including reinforced concrete structures, in urban planning and spatial planning, in geometric relief and in valuation, as well as in works of civil construction that have significant artistic character and in the restoration and restoration of buildings bound under the Code for cultural heritage and the landscape.

The planner has skills in territorial, landscape, environmental and city planning and in the development and coordination of complex and specialized analyzes of urban, territorial, landscape and environmental structures. His task is also the coordination and management of environmental assessment activities and feasibility of urban and territorial plans and projects; urban and territorial transformation strategies, policies and projects.

The landscape architect has skills in the design and construction management of gardens and parks; in the preparation of landscape plans; in the restoration of historic parks and gardens.

The conservator works to conserve architectural and environmental assets and to diagnose the processes of degradation and instability of architectural and environmental assets, identifying interventions and techniques aimed at their restoration or restoration.

The possibility to enroll in the state exam for engineers also implies the acquisition of skills in the design, development, construction management, estimation, testing, management and environmental impact assessment of building works, structures and infrastructures, as well as systems and civil and environmental installations and the territory.

The University of Parma has provided, only in the Emilia-Romagna Region, a Master's Degree (two-year course) in Architecture to complete the Degree Course (three-year) in Architecture Science. The master's degree, result of the so-called 3 2 path, has exactly the same legal and substantial value as the single-cycle degree. To be admitted to the Master's Degree in Architecture you must have a three-year degree or university degree, or another qualification obtained abroad that is recognized as suitable, as well as the following curricular requirements:

• having obtained, in the previous university course, a degree with a minimum grade of 90/110;
• to have achieved, in the previous university path, at least 120 credits in the scientific-disciplinary sectors envisaged among the activities defined as basic, characteristic and related and supplementary by the organization of the studies of the Degree Course in Architecture Sciences, class L-17, of 'University of Parma. Students who have obtained a three-year degree with a score lower than 90/110 must, before completing the enrollment, take an oral test aimed at verifying the possession of the basic knowledge deemed essential for access to the master's degree.

We are satisfied with the choice made and the results obtained: in these years the majority of students obtained a degree in Architectural Sciences in the three years and continued their journey in the master's degree.

About 300 students are currently enrolled in the Master's Degree Program. The courses are organized in accordance with the European Directive 85/384 / CEE concerning the mutual recognition of diplomas, certificates and other titles in the Architecture sector.

In the academic year 2016/2017 the teaching staff is composed of 31 professors employed by the University of Parma and by 12 contracted professors, coming from various sectors of the professional world: freelancers, managers of public administrations, high education scholars , giving rise to a special interaction between the world of work and the academy. This quality is evidenced by the role of internships and internships, which are mandatory for the two degree courses, which are implemented thanks to a collaboration relationship with about a thousand public and private entities, mostly professional studios, affiliated with the University .

The courses take place in the University Campus of Via Langhirano called Science Area Park, scientific-technological center of the University of Parma. The Campus, nestled in a green area of seventy-seven hectares on the outskirts of the city, is easily accessible from the railway station and the historic center; it also includes the most modern and well-equipped facilities of the university sports center (swimming pool, tennis courts, football, golf, athletics, basketball, volleyball, soccer).

The educational activities can take all the forms envisaged by current legislation and others in the implementation of educational experimentation. Teaching is divided into theoretical lessons with practical exercises, laboratories, training. The laboratories, mainly of a design nature and usually lasting 120 hours, are attended by several disciplines from which a single conclusive evaluation emerges. While the first year of the course will have exclusively the laboratory form in the subjects of architectural design, urban planning, restoration, construction and executive representation, the second year will be composed, with the exception of the final synthesis laboratory, of mono-disciplinary courses on aspects more professionalizing, such as innovative technologies for architecture and the environment, urban planning and building legislation, economic evaluation of plans and projects. The practical educational or laboratory activities, which are part of the individual courses, as well as those of training, can be carried out at qualified public and private institutions with which the University has stipulated special agreements.

Each year of the course is divided into two periods of didactic activity (usually lasting thirteen weeks each and defined semesters) separated by periods exclusively dedicated to the performance of the exams.

Attendance at courses is a right / duty of students. Students automatically obtain the attendance certificate at the end of the period in which the teaching provided for in their study plan has been given, with the exception of the courses called laboratory. In the laboratories, in fact, the attendance to the lessons is compulsory: the student who has attended at least 70% of the class hours can take the exam.

Because in Parma

The course of study, the only one in Emilia-Romagna to provide a two-year course following the three-year degrees of class L-17 - Architecture Sciences, is in accordance with Directive 2005/36 / EC concerning the recognition of the degree in Architecture in the Union European. The course has a strong design focus on the themes of environmental, social and economic sustainability in the disciplines of architectural design, urban planning, land use and landscape as well as architectural restoration. Every year about one hundred students enroll, of which 50% come from other Italian universities or from abroad. To emphasize the vocation to international studies in architecture, the course has promoted various educational and scientific cooperation agreements with foreign universities and is completely offered also in English. The success of the training course is witnessed by high employment rates, over 90% three years after graduation.

What awaits you after graduation

The course forms a graduate figure who, after passing the State Examination, can independently carry out the professional activity of architect, city and territory planner, landscape architect and conservator / restorer. As a graduate you will be able to assume roles of high responsibility in public and private institutions and bodies (institutional bodies, public and private companies, design companies), operating in the fields of construction and transformation of anthropic settlements and the territory. To deepen the professional skills acquired in the training course, more than a thousand agreements have been activated with public bodies, companies and professional offices, including foreign ones, to allow you to carry out internships and internships before and after graduation. You will also be able to continue your academic training at the University of Parma, attending the European Master's Degree in Urban Regeneration or the Research Doctorate in Architecture and Civil Engineering.

The University

In the city centre you can find the Departments of Arts and Humanities, Economics, Law and Politics, Medicine and Surgery and Veterinary Science. The other scientific Departments (Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability; Engineering and Architecture; Food and Drug; Mathematical, Physical and Computer Sciences) are located in the University Campus, a 77-hectare area in the southern side of the city which also hosts a brand new Technopole and cutting-edge sports facilities for all students.

In addition, Parma is a very nice human-scale city, where life is pleasant and inhabitants are friendly and welcoming: it is not by chance that more than half of our students comes from other Italian provinces, and, consequently, our University is ranked among the top ones for the number of non-resident students. Welcome, research, attention and innovation: they are the key elements to fully accomplish our mission, that is to grant you a complete and authentic experience of personal, intellectual and professional growth. You are, indeed, the centre of all our activities, the heart of one of the most important European Universities, which still preserves its ancient prestige while projecting itself into the future.

Scientific research activities of world excellence

Today, more than ever, “innovation” is one of the keywords of the University of Parma. Within the structures of the University of Parma there are scientific research activities of world excellence. The research areas range from agri-food to biotechnology, from pharmaceutical innovation to experimental medicine, not to mention the importance of studies in the legal, economic, humanistic, engineering, architectural and veterinary medical fields. Among the excellences, we must not forget the discoveries on the “mirror neurons” in the area of Neuroscience, the studies in Information Engineering that led to the creation of autonomous vehicles (without driver), the studies in the field of mathematics and those in the food sector, in which the University of Parma - also thanks to its position in the center of the Food Valley - aims to consolidate its status as a reference point, not only at regional level.

Tecnopolo and applied research

Another basic element of the University of Parma is the activity carried out within the Tecnopolo, where both the applied research of the interdepartmental centers and the “labs” of University partner companies in the research activities can develop, within a Campus which is the heart of innovation for the whole area.

The food project

The Food Project is an initiative promoted by the University of Parma with the aim of harmonizing and strengthening the skills and the competencies already existing within the University, at the research and teaching level, in the food sector, and to promote scientific interaction among in universities, industries, research centres, and with national and international educational institutions. The goal is to make the University of Parma a recognized European hub in the field of food technology and nutrition.

Accessing the degree courses

EU nationals may find all relevant access information HERE

Non-EU nationals access to the University of Parma is guaranteed through the procedures detailed at the national "Studiare in Italia" Web portal.