The practice of architecture requires a deep understanding of how the design of buildings interacts with the physical and cultural contexts of human traditions, landscapes, settlements, cities, and suburbs. Study abroad programs allow you to examine historical and contemporary architecture, and learn from scholars and practitioners with expertise in the diverse cultures of building across the globe.
The department offers programs that fulfill professional degree requirements including intermediate-level design studios in Rome or Vicenza, Italy, and Vancouver, British Columbia. The Danish Institute for Study Abroad in Copenhagen also provides design studio credits.
Other non-studio programs with professional content are offered by other departments within the school. Students can participate in an exchange program with the University of Stuttgart, take an independent practicum in a design firm or non-profit organization abroad, or participate in the university’s IE3 international internship program. Credits earned in approved international programs offered by other accredited architecture schools in the U.S. can be transferred to fulfill departmental degree requirements.
Undergraduates are encouraged to enroll in international programs offered by or affiliated with the university to fulfill general education requirements.
In addition to travel in association with credit-granting international programs, students have participated in department-sponsored study visits to British Columbia, China, Egypt, Finland, India, Italy, Korea, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania, Thailand, and Turkey.
Singapore
The Agriculture in the Built Environment (AgBE) Study Abroad Program is a full 8-week (4 weeks in Singapore) summer term program providing UO and OSU students with collaborative interdisciplinary opportunities to research and design ways of integrating architecture and agriculture in urban contexts. Course offerings include Architectural Design Studio (ARCH 484/584, 6 credits, M. Fretz), Food & Architecture from Ancient to Modern Times (ARCH 407/507, 4 credits, G. Mhuireach), and Special Topics: Building Integrated Agriculture (HORT 499, 3 credits, G. Langellotto).
This program will encourage students to address pressing issues of food security and equity, urban livability, human and environmental health, and climate change adaptation and mitigation. The AgBE Study Abroad Program is supported by a grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, which will provide scholarships to every student, with awards ranging from $1000–$5000, depending on number of applicants. Undergraduate and graduate students from UO Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Environmental Design programs, as well as OSU College of Agricultural Sciences, are welcome to apply.
Barcelona, Spain
Investigate how bottom-up urban design strategies provide a framework for the participation of workers and residents to create an integrated community in Barcelona’s 22@ information activities district. Visit and diagram three urban typologies at the scale of the urban room, district, and neighborhood, including maritime metropolis, modernisme, and contemporary pluralism, along with a comparative study of similar typologies in Granada, Andalucía. Participants reside in and experience everyday life in the pedestrian waterfront neighborhood of Poblenou.
Vicenza, Italy
The spring term Vicenza Architecture Program offers a unique opportunity for first-hand experience and in-depth study of Italy’s contributions to architectural, urban, and landscape design. Students take 16 professional degree credits that includes a design studio and three courses: an advanced technical course on materials and details, an urban design course on town form, and a media course in field sketching. After a two-week introductory tour of Rome and Florence, the program is based in Vicenza, a UNESCO world heritage site in northern Italy. Excursions in Vicenza and nearby regional towns and a 5-day excursion to Switzerland complement the studio, allowing students to expand their knowledge of Italy outside the classroom, and providing a vehicle for hands-on study in the history and media classes. The program is available to architecture, interior architecture, and landscape architecture students who have completed the introductory studio sequence.
Rome, Italy
University of Oregon architecture and history of art and architecture faculty members teach a full curriculum of courses and studio during a summer term program in Rome. The twelve credit program consists of a studio, a media course and a seminar. Rome is the laboratory for each of these courses. In addition to these classes, the Rome program also offers a number of field trips with opportunities to explore other cities in Italy. This program is available to architecture students who have successfully completed at least four design studios.
Copenhagen, Denmark
The department offers students the opportunity to study in Denmark through the Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS). The DIS program has Summer, Fall and Spring semesters, and academic year programs in Copenhagen. Instruction is in English.