Admittance and course of study

Applications should be sent directly to the University of Kassel. A certificate proving qualifications is a prerequisite for acceptance on the program. This certificate is to be an official document issued by an educational institution stating the level of education and the qualification for study at a general or technical university. An aptitude test is offered for highly qualified candidates who do not fulfill these requirements. An internship is recommended prior to the beginning of studies.

The interdisciplinary introductory studio in the 1st semester serves as an introduction to the basic principles of planning and design. The focus of the studio work is training of conceptual and creative thinking, as well as design, and communication, and presentation skills.  These skills are practiced both in team settings and with individual work. The aim of the introduction is to convey a knowledge of fundamental principles, primary methodologies and basic skills such as perspective drawing, fundamentals of digital design techniques and model building.

The introductory project in the 2nd semester expands these abilities by the assignment of a specific design or planning task, which requires the spatial and conceptual relationships to have a modest level of complexity.

In the 3rd to 6th semesters, elective project modules are offered. The educational goal is to combine design and planning competence with different key themes relevant to the discipline.

The professional practice module in the 5th semester focuses on practical and vocational preparation. The project module in the 6th semester directly corresponds to the issues raised in the final project (bachelor’s thesis).

During the first three semesters the syllabus consists predominantly of mandatory course work. After the third bachelor's semester an increasingly more flexible system of elective modules allows students to select specific courses according to their individual areas of interest.