| Code | Faculty | Department |
|---|---|---|
| 12132018 | Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology | Department: Architecture |
| Credits | Duration | NQF level |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum duration of study: 3 years | Total credits: 380 | NQF level: 07 |
Architecture entails the design of buildings and the spaces between those buildings. Art and science are employed to create liveable environments that contribute towards the spiritual and material prosperity of the country. Architects are often innovative, critical thinkers that lead and form part of consultant teams. Although they are employed by organisations involved with development, investment, research, marketing, the industry or even education, many architects prefer to be independent consultants and entrepreneurs.
BScArch is regarded as an exit level that enables the graduate to register as a candidate architectural technologist, and BArchHons as candidate senior architectural technologist, at the South African Council for the Architectural Profession. An architectural technologist is a professional person registered by the SACAP in terms of the Architectural Professions Act (Act 44 of 2000). Such practitioners provide assistance in the practices of the disciplines of architecture, interior architecture, landscape architecture and urban design where their responsibilities would be the documentation of projects, project administration and site management.
Students are advised to work in the offices of an architect to gain practical experience during the university recesses and during a year out after completion of the BScArch degree.
A graduate wishing to become a professional architect must apply for, and pursue, a further two years of full-time studies in the professional degree programme. The Master of Architecture (Professional) degree is recognised by the South African Council for the Architectural Profession as qualifying the graduate to register as a candidate professional architect in terms of the Architectural Professions Act (Act 44 of 2000).
Important information for all prospective students for 2025
The admission requirements below apply to all who apply for admission to the University of Pretoria with a National Senior Certificate (NSC) and Independent Examination Board (IEB) qualifications. Click here for this Faculty Brochure.
Minimum requirements | |||
Achievement level | |||
English Home Language or English First Additional Language | Mathematics | Physical Sciences | APS |
NSC/IEB | NSC/IEB | NSC/IEB | |
5 | 4 | 4 | 27 |
For advice on a second-choice programme, please consult a Student Advisor. To make an appointment, send an email to [email protected].
This programme will only be considered as a first study choice.
Life Orientation is excluded when calculating the APS.
Applicants currently in Grade 12 must apply with their final Grade 11 (or equivalent) results.
Applicants who have completed Grade 12 must apply with their final NSC or equivalent qualification results.
Please note that meeting the minimum academic requirements does not guarantee admission.
Successful candidates will be notified once admitted or conditionally admitted.
Applicants should check their application status regularly on the UP Student Portal at click here.
Applicants with qualifications other than the abovementioned should refer to the International undergraduate prospectus 2025: Applicants with a school leaving certificate not issued by Umalusi (South Africa), available at click here.
International students: Click here.
Transferring students
A transferring student is a student who, at the time of applying at the University of Pretoria (UP) is/was a registered student at another tertiary institution. A transferring student will be considered for admission based on NSC or equivalent qualification and previous academic performance. Students who have been dismissed from other institutions due to poor academic performance will not be considered for admission to UP.
Closing dates: Same as above.
Returning students
A returning student is a student who, at the time of application for a degree programme is/was a registered student at UP, and wants to transfer to another degree at UP. A returning student will be considered for admission based on NSC or equivalent qualification and previous academic performance.
Note:
Closing date for applications from returning students
Same as above.
Please Note: Students wishing to transfer to other programmes in the Department of Architecture must obtain written consent from the admissions committee.
Concurrent presentation
In the third year of study Design, Construction, Design communication, History of the environment and Earth studies must initially be examined in the same year.
The degree is awarded to those students obtaining all the prescribed credits for the programme modules.
Please Note: Students not promoted to the next year of study must obtain the approval of the programme coordinator and the Head of Department to register for modules in the subsequent year of study. Students must re-apply for admission to the Department of Architecture in instances where:
The degree is conferred with distinction on a student who, at first registration, passes all modules of the final year of study with a weighted average of 75% (not rounded). The degree must have been completed within the minimum prescribed time and no supplementary/special examinations may have been written.
Minimum credits: 124
Module content:
Find, evaluate, process, manage and present information resources for academic purposes using appropriate technology.
Module content:
Apply effective search strategies in different technological environments. Demonstrate the ethical and fair use of information resources. Integrate 21st-century communications into the management of academic information.
Module content:
Introduction to ecosystemic and systems thinking, ecology, natural resources and stress on the environment; social ecological systems and wellbeing; ecological design principles.
Module content:
Introduction to natural materials, their basic properties and transformation for application in the built environment.
Module content:
The context of construction technology in dialogue with design, theory, structure, representation and the environment. Introduction to low-complexity construction methods and site responsive applications.
Module content:
Application of construction knowledge in design realisation, representation and material resolution.
Module content:
Visual communication, digital visualisation and representation tools, basic computer aided space modelling and drawing conventions to support design and construction projects.
Module content:
A broad survey of the intertwining histories of southern Africa and the world. First achieved from the vantage of our campus, and thereafter the focus shifts to the city by investigating settings of ritual to introduce students to local traditions and lexicons of place-making.
Module content:
A study of the Mediterranean basin as nexus between the cultures of Asia, Europe, and the pre-colonial civilisations of North and West Africa. Cities, buildings, and gardens will be analysed to relate their form and order to the environmental, political, and philosophical conditions that influenced their making.
Module content:
Introduction to the fundamentals of architectural design supported by pertinent theory and the integration of supporting modules. Understanding the influence of physical, social, cultural and historical informants on the processes that generate meaningful spatial outcomes on an intimate and familiar scale with a human-centred approach. Development of a design vocabulary and visual literacy skills. Students may from time to time be required to undertake experiential learning/practical work, community engagement, or data collection activities related to on-site research in socio-economically underprivileged areas.
Module content:
The theory of structures in architectural applications: Types of structures in architecture; Centre of mass and centre of rigidity – wall arrangements; Stresses and materials; Forces and their applications on trusses and cables, FBD; Equilibrium of equations; Force problems; Introduction to flexural members, determinate beams; Moments, axial and shear forces diagrams.
Minimum credits: 134
Module content:
Designing towards wellbeing within the built environment: responsive and passive design in natural and mesoscale environments.
Module content:
Designing towards wellbeing within the built environment: inclusive design, health and user comfort in interior environments.
Module content:
The Joint Community Project module is a credit-bearing educational experience where students are not only actively engaging in interpersonal skills development but also participate in service activities in collaboration with community partners. Students are given the opportunity to practice and develop their interpersonal skills formally taught in the module by engaging in teamwork with fellow students from different disciplines and also with non-technical members of the community. The module intends for the student to develop through reflection, understanding of their own experience in a team-based workspace as well as a broader understanding of the application of their discipline knowledge and its potential impact in their communities, in this way also enhancing their sense of civic responsibility. Compulsory class attendance 1 week before Semester 1 classes commence.
Module content:
The design and detailing of medium complexity framed construction: substructures and superstructures. The theoretical understanding of technology and its relationship with design. Context responsive construction and material applications. The application of building regulations and standards.
Module content:
Site manipulations, services and green infrastructure. Building regulations and standards. Application of construction knowledge in design realisation.
Module content:
Visual communication, digital visualisation and representation tools. Communicating the complexity of projects in design and construction.
Module content:
An introduction to critical readings of history. It covers episodes instrumental in the formation and export of modernity, especially its manifestation in southern Africa as a vehicle for western hegemony, and its influence on contemporary discourse. Exemplar projects are studied to uncover the socio-political forces that shaped the ideas, methods and individual aspirations of architects in the service of patrons.
Module content:
An exploration of modernist and post-modernist approaches to architecture that relate to the socio-political patterns that characterise the contemporary world. The juxtaposition of ideas allows students to debate critical issues within society and the disciplines of design.
Module content:
The process and product of architectural design supported by pertinent theory and the integration of supporting modules. The design of context responsive spaces and buildings that address private and public interfaces with residential and community orientated programmes on a neighbourhood scale. Students may from time to time be required to undertake experiential learning/practical work, community engagement, or data collection activities related to on-site research in socio-economically underprivileged areas.
Module content:
The theory of structures in architectural applications: Review of determinate structures; indeterminate structures; deflection of beams; strength and behaviour of structural building materials; design of structures, design principles and material selection; design of reinforced concrete structures (beams, slabs and columns).
Module content:
The theory of structures in architectural applications: Review of indeterminate structures; design codes, load combinations and load paths; design of the initial framing system of reinforced concrete structures; foundation systems and retaining walls; stability in structures; design of steel structures; load bearing masonry – loads and sizing.
Minimum credits: 122
Module content:
Integrating the creation, change, restoration and protection of ecosystems in design and planning across a range of scales and contexts.
Module content:
Ecosystemic thinking for the designer in terms of culture, the natural and built environment. The project-specific application of sustainable development and ecological design principles that respond to users, programme and the macro context.
Module content:
An introduction to the principles of construction contract law and an overview of standardised conditions of contract for the built environment.
Module content:
The theoretical understanding of technology and its relationship with design. Applied construction technology and design of multistorey buildings. The integrated design of services, structure, circulation and site infrastructure. The design and detailing of low maintenance, sustainable and environmentally responsive buildings. The application of building regulations and standards. The preparation of construction drawings as part of a design realisation integrated with ONT 300 and OKU 300.
Module content:
Advanced digital visualisation and representation tools to support design projects. Document and building information management.
Module content:
A multi-disciplinary reading of southern Africa as a tapestry of cultural landscapes that reflect the histories of and interactions between indigenous, colonial and migrant cultures. It draws from diverse sources and perspectives from fields such as archaeology and art history. This provides the backdrop to a study of current debates, local urbanism and post-colonial architectural discourse.
Module content:
In part this module delves into the archive and scholarship of the Department to study the lives of South African spatial designers as a means to trace recent history. This sensitises students to the autobiographical: they formulate a conscious approach to architecture concerning the histories presented in preceding courses.
Module content:
The process and product of architectural design supported by pertinent theory and the integration of supporting modules. The design of socially and environmentally responsible spaces and multistorey buildings with complex programmes in urban contexts. Exploring identity through design and developing a normative position in design. Design realisation developed to construction drawings integrated with KON 300 and OKU 300. Students may, from time to time, be required to undertake experiential learning/practical work, community engagement or data collection activities related to on-site research in socio-economically underprivileged areas.
Module content:
Management of an architectural practice and architectural project from inception up to local authority submission.
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