Architecture & Design
The Architecture and Design program offers you an opportunity to explore the essential nature of Danish architecture and design. Discover why buildings perform and look the way they do in Denmark. This understanding is a unique part of your professional development as a designer. Understanding the reasons behind the design decisions will allow students to use a Scandinavian design method in another location and create contextually sensitive designs.
Student Profile
The program is designed for students enrolled at a professional school or department of architecture or design at the junior, senior or graduate level. Completion of a minimum of two spatial design studios is required.
Choose Your Core Course
- Architectural Design Studio (6 credits)
- Information Design Studio (6 credits)
- Interior Architecture Studio (6 credits)
- Urban Design Studio (6 credits)
The studio course, the backbone of the design programs, will expand your professional skills and knowledge through assignments and interaction with Danish architects and designers. The assignments are approached from a contextual point of view. Your design will reflect the Danish climatic, historic, social and regulative contexts. You will be expected to use various design tools in the process of developing your project.
Prerequisites: Enrollment at a professional school or department of architecture or design at the junior, senior or graduate level, plus completion of a minimum of 2 spatial design studios.
Study Tours
This will broaden your understanding of the social and physical context of Danish architecture and design. You will sketch on site and reflect on your experiences individually and as a group. Inspiration obtained on the study tour will generally influence your work in studio and specifically your ability to design for the Danish context.
- A one-week European study tour to Germany-Netherlands or Sweden-Finland (preference)
Germany is the European front-runner in adaptive reuse of former industrial buildings and sites, while Dutch design is conceptually based. Sweden and Finland are exponents of the Scandinavian approach to architectural design emphasizing simplicity, context and user involvement. Prior to the study tour you have analyzed a selected site through research and studies in scale model. On the study tour you will be leading the group at the selected site.
A focus is placed on handling natural daylight as an essential design parameter on study tours, field studies and in studio assignments. Daylight, like acoustics, is best understood when visiting the actual structures, something you will do extensively while studying in Denmark.
Elective Courses
In addition to the required core course (studio), you are free to select any combination of courses from the DIS curriculum. Please click here for a full course overview. If you want to learn more about architecture and design, check out courses listed under Architecture, Design, Landscape Architecture, Urban Design, and Studio Art. There is a lot to choose from!
