Architectural

I. Characteristics of the Major

Architecture is a discipline that studies buildings and their environment and is characterized by the integration of science and art, as well as engineering and humanities. The major of Architecture of XJTU was set up in 1986 and passed the national undergraduate (five-year) education assessment of architecture major in universities for the first time in 2007. It was rated as the First-Class Characteristic Major of Ordinary Higher Education Institutions in Shaanxi Province in 2008 and as the National First-class Undergraduate Major Construction Point in 2021. After nearly 40 years of development, the major has brought together many well-known professors, experts, and scholars from famous universities and design institutes at home and abroad to give lectures and formed a teaching and research team of the old, the middle-aged, and the young who are rigorous in academic research and brave in exploration.

To promote international education, cultivate interdisciplinary innovative talents with international vision and high comprehensive quality, boost the scientific and technological development of China, and implement the National Belt and Road Initiative, XJTU and Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI) of Italy have launched the Chinese-foreign cooperative education of architecture. POLIMI ranks among the best in the world for education in the category of engineering technology, with architecture ranking 10th (QS World University Rankings 2023). The two universities jointly establish a high-level international cooperation platform to make full use of the superior educational resources of the two in the field of architectural design. This major adopts international teaching mode, strives to cultivate students’ abilities of architectural design and innovative practice, focuses on improving their humanistic quality, international vision, and leadership ability, and forms and strengthens the talent cultivation characteristics of “high starting point, solid foundation, strict requirements, and emphasis on practice”.

II. Cultivation Objectives

Standing at the development frontier of international architecture and based on “emerging engineering, grand design, and interdisciplinarity emphasis”, this major aims to cultivate high-quality interdisciplinary professionals who master cutting-edge academic theoretical knowledge and design technology practice. While cultivating students’ architectural design ability, the major also focuses on improving their innovative practice ability of interdisciplinary integration, as well as their humanistic quality, international vision, and leadership ability.

In the aspect of education, the major pays attention to cultivating students’ sense of social responsibility, realistic and innovative spirit, and sound personality. In terms of specialty, the major aims to cultivate leading talents who meet the needs of China’s social and economic development and urban and rural construction, have the basic concept of human settlement science and sustainable development thought, master the basic theories, basic knowledge, and design methods of architectural discipline, obtain the basic skill training as architects, possess strong architectural design and practice abilities, have innovative spirit and cultural and artistic accomplishment, and are able to be engaged in design and planning, consulting, management and development, teaching, and scientific research and play a backbone role in the domains of architecture and urban construction.

III. Graduation Requirements

The graduates majoring in Architecture should meet the following 18 basic requirements in the aspects of “knowledge, ability, and quality”:

A. Basic theory of architectural design: Be familiar with the purpose and significance of architectural design; be familiar with the dialectical relationship between the factors that have effect on architectural design, such as function, technology, art, economy, and environment, and establish the basic theoretical support of architectural design.

A1. Master the basic concept of human settlement science and the basic theory and methods of sustainable architectural design.

A2. Master the principles and analysis methods of architectural function, the basic principles and composition rules of architectural aesthetics, and the design principles of the overall coordination of architecture and environment; be able to carry out reasonable layout and site design for individual buildings and architectural complex.

B. Process and methods of architectural design: Master the work content and requirements of each stage in the overall process of architectural design and be able to carry out problem-oriented research design.

B1. Be familiar with the work content, requirements, and interrelationship of all stages of architectural design from preliminary planning and scheme design to construction drawing design and project implementation.

B2. Be able to apply the principles of architectural design to design architectural schemes; be familiar with the working methods for collaboration of various specialtiesin the design process.

C. Architectural design and expression: Master the manual and computer software drawing and analysis expression methods for architectural design and be able to select appropriate ways and means to analyze related design elements and environment and express design intention and design results.

C1. Master commonly used information and computer science and technology (office software, network, database, multimedia, etc.), understand the impact of modern information technology development frontier on urban and rural construction, and be able to use information technology tools in the process of analyzing and solving problems.

C2. Master the manual expression of architectural design, such as freehand drawing, model making, etc.

C3. Master relevant knowledge of computer-aided architectural design, know the latest development of professional software technology in the realm of architecture, and be able to use professional software such as AutoCAD, Rhino, Sketchup, Photoshop, Ecotect, etc.

D. Architecture-related knowledge: Master architecture-related knowledge, such as architectural history and theory, architecture and behavior, urban design and landscape design, and architectural economy and regulations, and be able to apply it to architectural and urban survey, analysis, and design.

D1. Architectural history and theory: Master the historical development processes, characteristics, and style causes of Chinese and foreign architecture; be familiar with the main contemporary architectural theories, representative figures, and works; be familiar with the basic principles of historical and cultural heritage protection and existing building utilization, as well as the design methods for preliminary protection or renovation.

D2. Architecture and behavior: Be familiar with the basic knowledge of environmental psychology and able to collect and analyze user needs and behavior data and reflect them in the architectural design.

D3. Urban design and landscape design: Be familiar with urban planning and urban design theory and methods; master the basic principles of urban design and residential quarter planning; be familiar with the theory and methods of landscape design.

D4. Economy and regulations: Be familiar with architecture-related economic knowledge, including the concepts of investment estimate, budget estimate, economic evaluation, investment, and real estate; be familiar with the basic content of architecture-related regulations, codes, and standards; be able to follow and apply the existing codes and standards for architectural design.

E. Principles and methods of architectural technology: Master the technical principles and methods of architectural structure, architectural physical environment control, building materials and construction, and building safety.

E1. Architectural structure: Master the relationship between structural system and architectural form and be able to select reasonable structure.

E2. Architectural physical environment control: Master the design principles of natural lighting, sunshine and shading, artificial lighting, etc.; be familiar with the acoustic environmental standards in architectural environmental control; master the basic principles of natural ventilation and building envelope’s thermal performance and be familiar with the design principles and methods of building energy conservation and green buildings.

E3. Building materials and construction: Master the nature, performance, and cost differences of commonly used building materials, be familiar with the development trend of new materials, and be able to select materials reasonably; be familiar with the construction system of common buildings and able to design or select building construction methods and node details.

E4. Building safety: Be familiar with the scope and corresponding requirements of building safety and master the principles of fire and seismic design of buildings and its relationship with architectural design; be familiar with the architect’s legal and moral responsibility for building safety.

F. Architect’s practice knowledge and professional quality: Be familiar with the registered architect system and master the architect’s job responsibilities and code of professional ethics.

F1. System and code: Be familiar with the registered architect system and master the architect’s job responsibilities and code of professional ethics; be familiar with the current architectural engineering design procedure and approval system, as well as the management bodies and systems related to project construction.

F2. Service responsibility: Be familiar with the basic content of architectural design contract and the contract performance responsibility of architect, as well as the basic principles of construction site organization and general construction process.

F3. Professional quality: Possess broad theoretical knowledge of humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences; have an international vision and professional foreign language (English) skills to communicate and exchange ideas in a cross-cultural context; know the national conditions, national policies, and international situation, have the senses of historical mission and social responsibility for national prosperity and rejuvenation, and understand the important role of this major in it; have the ability of team cooperation and organization management and be able to effectively communicate and exchange with industry peers and the public on engineering design.