ARCHITECTURE

MONODISCIPLINARY COURSES are characterized by theoretic contents taught in lectures and verified throughout the year with tests and interviews.

INTEGRATED COURSES cover more than one discipline or specific context. They are complementary and taught by more professors who supplement each another.

STUDIOS involve both several internal Faculty teachers and external professionals. The students work under their guidance and their specific architectural expertise.

WORKSHOPS last one week during which the students develop a project under the guidance of an established and well-known professional or a company.

PLEASE NOTE:

• Due to the high demand for popular study programmes, the Architecture School will allocate you to the most appropriate one based on your academic background. If you notice a change in the teaching language of your study programme, please rest assured that there will be support if needed. Please find the general guidelines of the School of Architecture on the school’s website.
• All courses and studios have limited places. It is not possible to guarantee access to a specific lecture and studio. Places will be assigned on a “first come first served” basis. Some other courses are not available for exchange students. We will provide you with the list in the follow-up email before the study plan submission opening.
• Choose courses at your study level. You are allowed to choose courses from both BSc and MSc programmes, however it is strongly recommended to attend courses of your current study level. Lack of a solid foundation knowledge might reflect negatively on your attendance and on your results. NB: the Italian higher education system is 3 years BSc + 2 years MSc.  
• The Architecture School offers workshops, which are short and intensive courses of 4 credits, with no exam nor mark. Some of them are offered free of charge; for some others you will be required to cover the costs. Please note that if you add “workshop” to your online study plan you must also register following the instructions you can find here.

Your study plan must include:

• a studio within your track (e.g.: students assigned to Progettazione dell’Architettura BSc must select the studio from the study programme Progettazione dell’Architettura)
• at least one course of your study programme at Polimi if you do not plan to attend any studio;  
• only courses of the current semester.

Your study plan can include:

• maximum one studio per semester; 
• any other course from other study programmes if available, both in English and in Italian; 
• maximum 32/34 ECTS per semester; 
• up to 12 ECTS from the Schools of Engineering.

Since places are limited we would encourage you to prepare a backup list:  

• the Architecture School offers many interesting studios taught in Italian that are equivalent to the ones taught in English; 
• a course or studio in Italian might be a good way to take advantage of all aspects that the exchange experience offers. 

Keep in mind that:

• All courses require full time attendance.
• In case of late arrival professors might NOT accept you in studios.
• A full workload at the School of Architecture of Polimi is 30 ECTS credits per semester.
• 1 ECTS credit (equal to 1 CFU) = about 25 hours of workload including classes, practice, homework.
• Use the Customized Schedule tool at the Manifesti degli Studi to verify your weekly schedule.
• Pay attention to where the course is held and avoid choosing courses held in different campuses.
• The same course might have more than one section.You may choose any section.
• Most courses at Bachelor level are offered in Italian, while the majority of courses at Master level are taught in English

You must search for a supervisor at Polimi who is willing to assist you with your thesis work and at the same time, you need a supervisor at your home university. You will not defend your thesis at Polimi, but only at your home university. Therefore, you cannot select “final project” in your study plan, and no grades/ECTS will be assigned in the ToR (Transcript of Records). The Polimi supervisor can issue a statement with information about the thesis work upon request.