The Darmstadt Model

“The Darmstadt degree programme understands architecture as a unity of building construction and urban design. The department sticks to this understanding and sees confirmation in its programme through the successful careers of its graduates. We consistently continue to offer a wide range of subjects and extensive individualisation of methods, but also of the collectively devised standards for professional training.”*

What is the “Darmstadt Model”?
The fundamental idea of this concept, jointly drafted by the new and the experienced professors, consisted of the aim to enable all students an early development of their individual potential and personal inclinations. This meant a confrontation with the entire spectrum of the artistic, technical, historical, and social subjects on offer at as early a stage as possible. This included a mandatory set of subjects in the first semesters and a growing freedom of choice for individual focal points within the course of the programme.

At the beginning of the 70s the five Department Groups formed very clearly, which also bore the foundations of the structure-plan in April 2000 and the new study regulations in 2002. Five Department Groups which committed to simultaneity of research and teaching but no longer as “Lehrgebiete” but as “Fachgruppen” -a term adopted after the appointment of Thomas Sieverts 1971 to the second urban professorship alongside Guther, for the cooperating Departments of professors Max Guther, Rolf Romero and Thomas Sieverts as “Fachgruppe Stadt” (Department Group Urban).

The Current Structure
Since the winter semester of 2008/2009 the Department of Architecture at TUD has adapted its curriculum to the Bachelor (BSc) and Master (MSc) degree system as part of the Bologna-process, which was initialised in 1999.

Mutual study structures within the whole of Europe are to make change-overs and international acknowledgement easier. As a new Europe-wide standardised system, the Anglo-Saxon two-part model has been chosen:
No longer a Diploma-course consisting of 10 semesters, but two consecutive courses: Bachelor of Science Architektur” and “Master of Science Architektur”. >>

* From the Foreword of Almanach Architektur 1990-1992 of the former Dean Prof. Jürgen Bredow.

The department's study programmes were positively evaluated by an external review committee in 2017. The commission was made up of renowned figures in the teaching of architecture.

“Particular emphasis is placed by the department on the integrative approach both in terms of scale (building-city) and the central aspects of architecture (design-function-construction) as well as sustainability (ecology-economy-socio-cultural). This integrative approach within the framework of the ”Darmstadt Model“ is rated very positively by the commission.” (Evaluation Report 20.12.2017, p. 4)

“The Department of Architecture at the Technische Universität Darmstadt is traditionally associated with a strong focus on architectural and urban design. The integrative (design) approach of seeing building-related and urban design as a common field of activity across scales and integrating the teaching of the technical disciplines (subject groups ”Construction“ and ”Building Technology“) to a significant extent into design teaching (Darmstadt Model) is very much welcomed by the Evaluation Commission. This also applies to the strong integration of the artistically oriented subject group 'Design and Representation'. In addition, the teaching also appears very strong in the area of historical foundations, such as archaeology as well as architecture and art history.” (ibid. p. 13)