Message from the Chair

“As an architect you design for the present, with an awareness of the past, for a future which is essentially unknown” – Lord Norman Foster

As basic as such a timeless quote might sound, its profound relevance and impact yet strikingly captivating and inspiring for architects around the world. In our part of the world, implications and possibilities are even far more enticing. Architects and students of architecture in Egypt, situated within extremely rich contexts and faced with everlasting imminent challenges, find themselves in continuous search for a different future; essentially a quest that confronts and simultaneously reconciles and resolves a plethora of intertwining issues concerning identity, heritage, social responsibility, resilience, and technology, among many others. 

At AUC Architecture, we prepare our students not only to be conscious of these issues and challenges, but to become agents of change in their society, who shall transform and lead the market. One recurring characteristic that genuinely distinguishes our students and alumni is that they always take a stand and perspective on current issues to create meaningful impact. With their nonstop enthusiasm to never settle for less, this impact typically does not stay either within the walls of campus or within their discipline. To borrow Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle concept, one of the fundamental defining characteristics of inspiring leaders is that they think and communicate from the inside out, from the Why to the How to the What, and not the opposite; the Why being the purpose, the cause, the belief, basically the raison d’etre

This is where we at AUC Architecture believe our students and alumni stand out; they are very conscious of their raison d’etre, and they do business with people who believe what they genuinely believe. And we want to train them to continue to be those motivated leaders in this profession, in this university, in this country, and beyond. We believe our pedagogical process, whether in the studio, class discussions, field trips, or even extracurricular activities, is part of that seed that will continue to grow to establish a platform and hub for a healthy discussion among youth students and young architects around the architectural discourse in the region. As architecture is typically a field that integrates multiple disciplines ranging between the arts, sciences, engineering, business, and humanities, we expect our students and alumni to be at the top of their game when it comes to tackling issues of the hour, including artificial intelligence, metaverse environments, inclusive design, social and environmental sustainability, to name only a few, and to master multiple skills to face real-world challenges nationally, regionally, and globally.

The Architecture program is the fastest-growing program at AUC. It is one of the most demanded programs in the School and the University. Admission to the program is highly competitive, and only 30 to 40 percent of the applicants declare architecture as a major. The department also offers a minor in Architectural Design and a minor in Design of Interior Spaces (offered in coordination with the Arts department). In 2020, the department launched an interdisciplinary Master of Science in Architecture program bridging between Architecture and Business and Real Estate, Humanities and Social Sciences, Heritage and Cultural studies, Sustainable design, Parametric Design and Tectonics.

The Department of Architecture at AUC is uniquely positioned as “Egypt’s Global University."  It capitalizes on the areas of strength at AUC. These include a liberal arts approach that characterizes AUC education, a strong interdisciplinary collaboration between schools and departments, a library endowed with a state‐of‐the‐art collection of architecture-related resources, and the invaluable original collections of Creswell, Hassan Fathy and Ramses Wissa Wassef. The department is ranked in the 151-200 top architecture programs in the QS international ranking.

The department has the highest number of “honor” students in the school due to the high caliber of students admitted and the excellent quality of their work. Joining Architecture at AUC is a life‐changing experience that shapes students’ future careers. Graduates of the program are entitled to professional registration to practice “architecture” in Egypt given by the Egyptian Syndicate of Engineers. They can also enroll in the Egyptian section of the International Union of Architects (the Society of Egyptian Architects). The department is also in the process of pursuing accreditation by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), and its Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) program has currently been approved for candidacy status. Once the program acquires initial accreditation, its graduates are eligible to earn architectural licensure in the United States and a certificate of licensure from the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB). Graduates of AUC Architecture work in some of the most prominent architectural firms in Egypt and abroad. Several graduates continue their studies in many prestigious universities in the U.S. and UK. Harvard, MIT, UC Berkeley, Cornell, UCL and the AA are but a few.

The Department of Architecture, in its commitment to providing its students with a well‐rounded academic experience, routinely organizes activities and events. The objectives of these activities are to expose the students to a wide range of knowledge, as well as to inform them of the realities and practicalities of architecture in a local and global environment. Such events include conferences, guest lectures, exhibits, workshops, seminars, and field trips. In April 2019, the renowned architect Lord Norman Foster was the guest speaker at the 6th forum for Lafarge-Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction housed by the department at AUC. In 2023, the department held a series of events organized by its student and alumni associations. Besides hosting keynote speeches by renowned architects such as Mariana Cabugueira and Jeanne Gang, the events have successfully attracted over 1000 participants of young architecture professionals and students coming from over 30 Egyptian and International Universities and featured a series of alumni cluster talks coming from all over the world to present their achievements and challenges in the various dimensions of the profession.  

The design studio is at the core of the architectural academic process in the Department of Architecture at AUC. The Department’s philosophy is to utilize the studio as the primary mode for exploration and learning. Students are encouraged to apply the content and skills learned in other courses to the design process in the studio. Pedagogically, we focus on the process rather than the product, where the product is viewed as a cumulative reflection of that process. Facilities of the department include state-of-the-art computing laboratories, design studios, a building sciences laboratory with an environmental chamber, a robotic arm, and laser cutting and 3D printing facilities.

It gives me immense pleasure to welcome you to AUC Architecture, a place where you can explore your talents, master your creativity, and contribute to humane aspects of the built environment! We look forward to extending our mission towards establishing AUC Architecture as the hub for a global local discourse on the future of architecture in the region.

Sherif Abdelmohsen
Professor and Chair
Department of Architecture, School of Sciences and Engineering