ma memere a dit qui quebec EST en l'europe--obviously i don't speak european

oh, sorry: good call on lausanne -- eth-zurich, too

Lausanne is good.
Ferrara in Italy is good.
Graz, in Austria, has a very particular and good school.

mendrisio or eth zurich / lausanne.
aa or bartlett in UK?

ZKM (Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie in Karlsruhe)
supposed to be good, similar to MIT's medialab, except more exposed to the arts... AA, Bartlett, ETH

from what i know, graz doesn't stand out.

what about the berlage institute in rotterdam.

the aa is brilliant though

TU Delft looks pretty hot

i believe berlage is more of a post-professional type of place, no?

try researching some schools in spain...

TU delft students come here pretty regular and are quite good all in all...if you are into it they seem to have opportunities for exposure to starchitects. most recent gig here for the TU Delft-ers was a workshop with Wiel Arets, yoshiharu Tsukamoto, and Manabu Chiba to do some wonky work in ginza...

from all accounts, AA, Berlage and Bartlett all have the same kind of star pull, but (my opinion only!) AA is best for thoughtful experimentation (i worked in London with 2 stars from bartlett and was dazzled by their seriously brilliant graphic design, deeply frustrated at their lack of imagination when it came to anything beyond style).

I studied at TU Delft for a semester. My experience was that that school is sort of what you make of it. For me, the experience was really great. The school is massive, I think 3,000+ students. It's a lot like the world of the movie Brazil at TU Delft.

What's great is that their international program is pretty robust and it's also where all the seriuos experimental stuff is. They draw from all over the EU and the US and commenwealth countries.

For most of the usual suspect schools listed here, I haven't read if they do exchanges and my impression is that they don't. I don't totally understand the deal with the Berlage as they're called a post professional school (I think). So again, not sure about exchanges.

The draw of star power actually is something to consider, more for the shear quantity of great lecturers in an area like Rotterdam or London. Real contact time with tutors in europe is so minimal, star tutors may actually be a net negative.

The Copenhagen school has a good reputation, I have some friends from there who I think highly of design wise.

But my one gripe with some of the responses so far here is that to be asked what european schools are good and then answer the two most famous (the london schools) kind of misses the point. As if the only US schools of note were GSD and Columbia. That's just kind of naive.

CMU has an exchange program with Copenhagen and some of our best students went there. From second-hand descriptions of theirs, as well as seeing their work, I was really impressed. Also, every single one of them said they loved it and that it was rigorous and great design exposure to the nordic way of thought (very different from American design). It seemed to me that if you're interested in simple, expressive materiality and a rigorous but enjoyable education, I'd pick Copenhagen. I almost wish I had, myself! The trips they went on also struck me as cool, because they went on arch. field trips to places people don't usually go, which I think is of enormous benefit. (It's easy to go to Rome or whatever and look at the Pantheon. But heading to Sweden for a weekend for a look at unknown architectural gems there... COOL.)

thenewold has a good point. with the starchitects it is sometimes hard to get face time, but the experience is maybe still worth it, at the very least for the contacts and the resume.

my partner (who went to TU Delft some time ago, when koolhaas was still teaching) tells me the students are never in studio and its really for self starters. on the other hand through that education he has some pretty amazing connections...

interesting gripe, thenewold, and wish i could offer advice about other schools but have no experience with any others. assume the same goes for the rest of the posters...

actually to add one more, a good friend graduated from TU Eindhoven, winning archiprix and archiprix international for his work, so it may also be a school worth looking at...

thenewold-----i visited tu delft last summer and was considering attending in the fall of 07- where you in the international program??? how much did it cost? level of difficulty getting in??? program you studied??

Salut,

je viens de montreal, et je fait une maitrise à Marne-La-Vallée (Paris) en ce moment. c'est une très bonne école en france, avec versaille, mais ca dépend des prfs que tu choisis.

-J'ai entendu beaucoup de bien de l'école de lausanne et les étudiants d'ici qui y sont allés en échange on beucoup aimé.

Regarding the Copenhagen comments, it's important to distinguish between DIS (Denmark International Study Program) and KARCH (Royal Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture). Both have opportunities for studying in English. Both are very interesting places. Here's how I see it (from a north american perspective):

DIS: Great program geared towards english speakers from USA (and a few from Asia). Study with American students, Danish professors. All classes in english. Studio environment and classes are similar to those in American programs. Great study tours (as mentioned earlier) to Holland in the autumn and Sweden/Finland in the Spring. Excellent faculty overall, always changing - lots of up and coming designers. Many also teach at KARCH.
http://www.discopenhagen.org/Academic0607/ad/index.php

KARCH: English-speaking foreign students come from Italy, France, Spain, Ireland, Israel, Australia, etc. Very few "classes" in English... the course system is different than in the US (even less focus on classes, almost exclusive focus on studio). Of course, studio crits are in English. Great location and facilities. Very diverse departments each have a specific focus. If going here, I would try to figure out which department you want to study in (or who you want to study with) before coming and make the appropriate arrangements. Ocassional lectures/conferences in English.
http://www.karch.dk/

ahh yes, my comment applied to DIS

Hi everyone;

I  completed my B.Arch(5 Years) course in early 2013 in Hyderabad(INDIA) and i have 1 year experience in architectural heritage conservation firm. I'm planning to do a M.Arch course in Architectural restoration/conservation in Italy. I need help finding a suitable university that offers this course. Please help! 

Thank you.