Educational institutions

As of 2010, there are 35 universities in Turkey which have architecture faculties; 14 of these are in Istanbul. Amongst the students who have been successful in the national university entrance examinations and have won the right to begin their studies in architecture faculties, the contingent for Turkey is 2,095 (925 in Istanbul). “The Bologna Process” is the name given to the series of activities which are carried out in the realization of the European Higher Education Area. This is the integration project implemented by European countries in the field of education. The main goals of the European Network of Heads of Schools of Architecture which focuses on the education of architecture, are to support the creative efforts made by European schools of architecture in their attempts to follow the dynamics of the “Bologna Process”, to define the contemporary “profile” of European architectural education and to develop methods to adapt the existing curricula to this “profile”. As guarantors of the system of quality assurance in architectural education, the Network of Heads of Schools of Architecture and the Chamber of Architects of Turkey took these goals as a starting point and formed the Architectural Accreditation Council in Turkey in 2006. Their aim is to raise the standards by monitoring architectural education and the post-education period. Another important accreditation is NAAB (National Architectural Accrediting Board) which is the sole agency authorized to accredit US professional degree programs in architecture. As a result of these initiatives, a certain percentage of the lessons are now being taught in English. Furthermore, students and faculty members have started to participate in international exchange programs. At the moment, the presentation of a thesis is compulsory for a master’s degree in the architectural faculties of Turkish universities. However there are two exceptions, one is the Architectural Design Graduate Program of Istanbul Bilgi University which was started in 2005, and the other is the Architecture Department of the Istanbul Technical University Architecture Faculty which has been given Substantial Equivalency by NAAB (1940). As for entering the universities in Turkey, this is still only possible by a single-stage examination system. With the support they get from other universities as well as from practicing professional architects, faculties of architecture, which generally provide an introverted education system, are now trying to open out to the world. However, faculty members are not officially allowed to have their own architectural practice. In other words, the gap between academics and the professional practice of architecture continues to exist.