The INSA architect
INSA Strasbourg, School of Architecture is accredited by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation and authorized by the Ministry of Culture to award the INSA Strasbourg Diploma in Architecture.
The course lasts 5 years. Admission is at baccalaureate + 1 year level, via a national competitive exam based on the syllabus of the first year of the preparatory classes for the “Grandes Écoles”.
The INSA Strasbourg architect’s mission is to design a sustainable living and frugal environment for the society of tomorrow, integrating human activities into the biosphere.
The architecture training at INSA allows students to build up their skills throughout the course. Acquiring those skills means building up a body of knowledge, know-how and soft skills. The teaching therefore covers the history and theories of architecture, cities and territorial development, plastic arts, engineering, technologies and related human sciences.
Architect and engineer
INSA Strasbourg School of Architecture is the only school in France to train both architects and engineers in the same institution.
All architecture-engineering students start their course with three years of studies with a three-year dual programme. These three years are organized around architecture-based themes, and the acquisition of skills in HVAC and energy engineering, civil engineering and surveying engineering. The students share skills and learning processes and acquire a common culture and vocabulary, enabling them to gain a better understanding of our societies and an enhanced grasp of what the act of design implies. On completion of these first three years they obtain a bachelor’s in architecture and engineering (diploma awarded by the establishment at bachelor’s degree level).
After that, they can take three routes:
- Students who have chosen the engineering strand (energy engineering, civil engineering or surveying engineering), but have also been trained in architecture, complete their training with two extra years of engineering. This pathway leads to the INSA Strasbourg Diploma in Engineering awarded after 6 years of higher education.
- Students who have chosen the architecture strand, but have been trained in engineering, complete their training with two extra years of architecture. This pathway leads to the INSA Strasbourg Diploma in Architecture awarded after 6 years of higher education.
- Students who have opted to complete the dual engineering and architecture course complete their training with three extra years (three semesters of engineering, three semesters of architecture). This pathway enables them to obtain both the INSA Strasbourg Diploma in Architecture and the INSA Strasbourg Diploma in Engineering, which are awarded after 7 years of higher education.
Architecture studies in France
In France architecture is taught in 21 public institutions, one of which is INSA Strasbourg.
Architecture studies are organized according to a European framework and follow the bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate pattern.
The first two cycles lead to a State diploma in architecture, equivalent to a master’s degree, after 5 years’ study. The doctorate cycle leads to a PhD in architecture, after 8 years’ study. The master’s can be vocational or research-oriented.
Each School decides on its own educational orientations.To become a qualified project manager (HMONP accreditation), the holder of a State diploma in architecture must have practised for at least 6 months and have successfully completed a certain number of vocational modules.
INSA Strasbourg’s cooperation with French University in Egypt in Cairo
A diploma in architecture modeled on the INSA Strasbourg diploma has been launched at the French University in Egypt (UFE) in Cairo. The two institutions have signed a cooperation agreement.
Admission is by the same competitive process as for INSA Strasbourg. Each year group consists of about ten students. The Egyptian students come over to the school for the charrettes in September and the beginning of classes in October before returning to Cairo to continue their course at the UFE.
The five-year course, including a foundation year preparing for the competitive admission process, is established by INSA de Strasbourg and the UFE, under the aegis of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Universities. The aim is to arrive at a double degree, the INSA Strasbourg in Cairo diploma in architecture (diploma in architecture from INSA Strasbourg) and the Egyptian Baccalaureos in architecture.
presentation of the course in architecture
Contact
Alexandre Grutter, head of the architecture department at INSA Strasbourg, School of Architecture
Christelle Gress, head of the architecture specialization at INSA Strasbourg, School of Architecture
Nathalie Koenig, secretary of the architecture department at INSA Strasbourg, School of Architecture