Architecture Degrees Online

Existing and Evolving Research Tracks:

ARCHITECTURE, THEORY AND DESIGN
ARCHITECTURE, SOCIETY AND CULTURE
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN RESEARCH AND RESEARCH BY DESIGN, ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN STRATEGIES

URBAN ARCHITECTURE

ARCHITECTURE AND ENVIRONMENT
SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE: GREEN DESIGN, COMMUNITY DESIGN AND UNIVERSAL DESIGN IN ARCHITECTURE
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
LANDSCAPE RESEARCH

COMPUTATIONAL DESIGN
Qualifications and competences of the graduates
The doctoral candidate is expected to work with a high degree of autonomy, displaying high standards of scholarship and effective and creative self-curation abilities. Candidates should display outstanding skills in the definition, planning and development of their research projects, which in turn should prove relevant and significant contributions to the field of knowledge within current architectural debates. Competence in the understanding and organization of interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary knowledge and its use and interpretation within the disciplinary field of design and architecture, as well as skills in complexity management are expected. Candidates assume professional and ethical responsibilities in research and its applications, and develop their work within the academic codes of conduct.

History of Architecture

The M.A. Program in History of Architecture intends to train students with a thorough knowledge of past and current architectural developments in the West and in Turkey within a cross-cultural framework, to familiarize students with research techniques and to equip them with the skills of criticizing and evaluating architectural works. Admission is open to all candidates holding a Bachelor’s Degree.

Architecture is associated with many fields and types of study and learning. While Architects find themselves compelled to be acquainted with them, it seems relevant to think and expect that those in diverse fields be concerned with the relation of their field of knowledge to architecture, to the qualities of the background to our everyday life. In a world where interdisciplinary work is gaining ever-growing importance, many from different disciplines collaborate with architects on studies and projects related with our built environment. An acquaintance with architecture along with their major studies will give them a sound understanding of architecture, and insight into its possible relations to their major subjects and will be instrumental for effective communication and collaboration in the medium of architecture.

The Department of Architecture (the first department established at METU in 1956) offers undergraduate and graduate degrees. The four-year undergraduate study grants the Bachelor’s degree in Architecture. Focal points of undergraduate education are architectural design studios aiming to freely develop the students’ investigative sides, creative personalities and way of thinking. Students have the opportunity during their undergraduate studies to follow minor programs in different areas like business administration, building technology and structure, and industrial design.

As distinct from other schools for higher education in Turkey fashioned after European models, METU established in 1956 as the Middle East Institute of Technology, has an academic system akin to those of the Anglo-American universities in United States. Supported by UN through UNESCO its primary mission had been the training of professionals required for urbanism, housing, construction and planning in developing countries. Conceived as an international university to be in pace with the changing and growing world of knowledge, the language of instruction is English ever since. Learning to reach sources worldwide, to evaluate critically what has been reached and to be creative and innovative have been permanent motives.

Since its foundation in 1956, Middle East Technical University has been very interested in archaeology and archaeometrical studies. This interest, which was already existing independently in the departments of physics and chemistry, flourished with the Keban Dam Rescue Project (1968-1974). The Keban and Lower Euphrates Projects began in 1975 and were expanded with the establishment of the METU Research Center for the Investigation and Salvage of Historical Remains, TEKDAM, in 1982 and have continued until the present time with the name of METU Center for Research and Assessment of the Historic Environment, TAÇDAM, since 199 display of various findings from some of the excavations on the Campus and in the Ankara Region. Koçumbeli Idol was one of those findings on campus grounds. It was used as the symbol of the 29th International Symposium on Archaeometry organized by the graduate program of Archaeomery (METU) which was held in Ankara in 1994.

The scientists who have carried out individual studies in Turkey since 1960s have been cooperating with archaeologists. In the 1970s, an application was filed to TÜBİTAK for the establishment of a Unit of Archaeometry attached to it and eventually the Unit of Archaeometry was established in 1980. Scientists from METU, Hacettepe, Istanbul, Boğaziçi, Istanbul Technical, Çukurova and Fırat Universities have participated in this Unit. This Unit continued to do research under the name of AKSAY which stands for the “Investigation of Archaeological findings by Spectroscopic and Analytical Methods” in Turkish. This Unit functioned until 1992. Alongside the work of the Unit, there was a need to educate students who would carry out archaeometric studies in the museums and at other research laboratories. As a result of this, METU initiated a Masters Program in Archaeometry as part of the Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences in 1990 with thesis and non-thesis version in 2003. These programs educate bachelors degree holders in all fields.

The main purpose of the program is to qualify the graduates toward bringing solutions to the archaeological problems by the application of scientific methods of natural and applied sciences. The study and understanding of history have acquired a new dimension through the collaboration between pure scientists and archaeologists. Thus, the analysis, identification and dating of archaeological remains and materials have become complete.

The objective of the program is to provide students with a solid academic background in archaeological theory, research techniques and modern interpretative methods with particular emphasis on settlement and environmental archaeology.

Settlement archaeology is the study of the selection criteria and implantation of settlements in the landscape, interrelationships between cities and their rural surroundings, the impact of human occupation on the natural environment and vice versa under past conditions.

Settlement archaeology has as its aim the holistic reconstruction of the cultures of ancient settlements and urban communities and their hinterlands. Settlement archaeological research is by definition a multidisciplinary enterprise requiring expertise from the disciplines of the natural and social sciences, architecture and city planning, as well as specialized techniques related to the retrieval, recording, analysis and data bank management of archaeological data (GIS), site conservation and cultural resource management. Disciplines and interdisciplinary sub-disciplines required in addition to archaeology include geology, environmental geomorphology, archaeozoology, paleontology, paleobotany, archaeometry, ancient history, anthropology, sociology, urban geography, classical architecture and city planning.

The objectives of the program are to train students in both the scientific-technological and social science-humanities disciplines necessary to conduct archaeological research according to contemporary international standards. The primary purpose is to train students as advanced scholars in settlement archaeology for university level teaching, research and active participation in national and international archaeological projects in Turkey.

The undergraduate program is based on a four-year study leading to the Bachelor’s degree with emphasis on architectural design studios. The graduate program, leading to the master’s degree is offered in the following areas: Master of Architecture in Design, Master of Science in Building Science, Master of Arts in History of Architecture and Master of Science in Restoration and Preservation of Historical Monuments. Graduate studies leading to the Ph.D. degree are offered in Architectural Design, Building Science, Restoration and History of Architecture.

Two undergraduate minor programs are offered; Minor Program in Conservation for undergraduate students of city-planning, and Minor Program in Architectural Culture for students from all departments of METU.
Research Interests and Facilities

Architectural theory, history and criticism and philosophy, theory and methods of architectural education and practice, theory and history of urban space, restoration and preservation of historic work and environments, monographic studies on settlements in Turkey, environmental issues in architecture, building and construction systems, project and construction management, computational technologies and IT in architecture are the major areas of graduate research.

In addition to the studios where undergraduate and graduate design courses take place, there are wood and metal workshops, printing workshop, and photography laboratory. The Photogrammetry Center, the Building Materials Laboratory, The Computer Laboratory, the Slide Archive and Documentation Center, and the Housing Research Center (KAM) support the academic and research activities in the Department.