Architecture is a social art. As professionals, architects develop a constructive balance and creative synthesis in the discourse between the individual and the community, between private interests and the common good, and between the natural, the social, and the technological. This requires a comprehensive education with a thorough understanding of the cultural, political, economic, ecological, and technological forces that shape our built environment.
As a top ranked professional program, the University of Minnesota provides this comprehensive education. We offer distinctive study opportunities, a strong academic and practicing faculty, and excellent facilities within the context of a top research university and a vibrant metropolitan area.
The School of Architecture’s mission is to educate professional architects and to advance architectural knowledge and creative practice through design-centered teaching and research. To support this mission it maintains a strong faculty composed of academics and practicing architects, fostering a dynamic dialogue between architecture’s identity as a discipline and a profession.
As a discipline, architecture draws heavily from the thought and ideas of the arts, the humanities, and the social and natural sciences to guide its theoretical explorations and practice. But, more than an amalgam of other fields, architecture is a discipline in its own right, with its own modes of thought, knowledge base, and operation. The complex task of planning and creating environments of cultural, sustainable and technological integrity demands distinct modes of thinking and reasoning. The design process thus fuses imagination and logic, creative exploration and systematic inquiry.
As a profession, architecture has a responsibility to serve society. The profession’s ethical obligations form an arc that encompasses a respect for our inheritance from the past, a commitment to improve the quality of life in the present, and a dedication to producing a sustainable environment for the future.
