Städelschule Architecture Class

The Städelschule Architecture Class (SAC) welcomes applications to its two-year, postgraduate Master of Arts in Architecture programme. The programme pursues an exclusive focus on architectural design through research and innovative experiments. Benefitting from its unique setting in the art academy, Städelschule, SAC sees its speculative and experimental approach to architecture both as a privilege and disciplinary obligation. In its disciplinary pursuit, the programme situates architecture in a wider socio-political and cultural context by problematising the contribution of architectural design to these.

The programme currently offers the choice between three Master Thesis Studio specialisations: Advanced Architectural Design (AAD), Architecture and Aesthetic Practice (AAP), Architecture and Urban Design (AUD). During the second year of studies, students complete their Master Thesis Project within the thematic framework of their chosen studio specialisation.

SAC is highly international, reflected in both faculty and student profiles. Studios are respectively led by Theodore Spyropoulos, Peter Trummer and Johan Bettum. Teaching is exclusively conducted in English. Over the last three years, more than sixty students from about 20 different countries have at any time pursued their studies in the two-year programme.

Based on the artistic platform of the Städelschule and the rigorous methodology structuring contemporary architectural design, the programme is formulated as a new and innovative approach to architectural design. Work at SAC pursues design problems within a small sub-set of thematic contexts which at any time are defined by the Master Thesis Studios. Each studio is led by an appointed professor, guest professor or thesis advisor. Reflecting the overall programme of the school, these studios operate autonomously but reflect the culture of the art academy and SAC’s disciplinary concerns. The respective academic and experimental agendas of the Master Thesis Studios complement one another and contribute to a vital and dynamic educational programme. The complementarity of the studio programmes engenders a productive in-house exchange and discourse for the benefit of the students and the development of the experiments and projects undertaken.

The bulk of all teaching at SAC takes place in the form of lectures, workshops, seminars and individual consultations. Digital and physical modelling is central to the work carried out and supported by ongoing theory sessions. Experimental research and design are conducted through the fusion of disciplinary investigations with professional concerns for efficiency and optimisation.

While deeply rooted in the discipline of architecture, SAC benefits from the arts’ profound commitment to critical speculation and innovation. Drawing on Städelschule’s distinct qualities and dynamics, SAC is situated at the cusp between the critical and innovative forces of art and architecture. SAC’s faculty provides the programme with an intense, core energy which is supplemented by a visitor’s programme that is wide-reaching, varied and of a very high quality. Recent guests have included Jeffery Kipnis, Sylvia Lavin, Keller Easterling, Sanford Kwinter, Farshid Moussavi, Liam Young, Beatriz Colomina, Mario Carpo, Mette Ramsgaard, David Ruy, Catherine Ingraham, Michael Young, Elizabeth Diller, Ferda Kolatan, Mark Wigley and Peter Testa.

SAC’S postgraduate master degree is fully accredited within the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System with 120 credit points upon the successful completion of the two-year course. Graduates are awarded the post-professional degree M.A. Architecture.

Applying to SAC
Each year SAC receives a large number of applications from all over the world. Applicants passing the initial screening are invited for an interview in person or via Internet. SAC is currently accepting between 30 and 40 students for the academic year commencing October 15, 2018.

Applications for commencing studies in October 2018 will be processed in two batches. 

The early-bird deadline is January 31, 2018 and the second deadline is April 30, 2018.

More information on the application procedure can be found on SAC’s homepage.
 

SAC is part of Städelschule Frankfurt:

Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste – Städelschule
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