Architecture

Overview

Our students are schooled in the broad tools and skills needed to work in the field, as well as the architect’s ethical responsibility to address critical environmental and social challenges in the urban setting.

The Architecture program from Portland State University is structured around a four-year sequence of required, thematic design studios, from freshman drawing classes to senior architectural interventions in the city. These studio experiences form the heart of the architecture degree, with rigorous hands-on instruction in drawing and making skills, design principles, and project-based learning, often in collaboration with community nonprofits and other organizations. Students' design studio coursework is enriched by required and elective lectures and seminars in architectural history, humanities, and tectonics. These seminars introduce, analyze, and discuss the complexities of the cultural and technological influences upon the making of architecture.

Our undergraduate program provides a clear path toward becoming a professional architect. Through our four-year undergraduate program, followed by our two-year Master of Architecture degree (also known as the “4 + 2 model”), you can launch your architecture career and go on to earn your professional license. Even better: our IPAL program allows you to jump ahead of your peers by starting your AXP (internship) credits while you are still an undergraduate.

Career

With a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science in Architecture from Portland State University, you are eligible to apply to an accredited two-year Master of Architecture program (including PSU's accredited two-year Master of Architecture) and complete the licensure process. Most students graduating with a BA or BS in Architecture move on to a Master of Architecture degree, either at PSU or at another highly regarded NAAB-accredited university. Those not pursuing a graduate degree often take jobs as design staff, draftspersons, and marketing support in many of the Portland area’s most acclaimed architecture firms, while others have been hired as project managers in construction and engineering firms, space designers for major retailers, and apparel companies, graphic designers, and more.