Private educational institutions

Private educational institutions

The contact information of these and more institutions can be found on Network page)

There are 13 private foundation universities which has an architectural department. Universities which have only interior design departments are not included in the list. Most influential private universities are indicated in quotation marks:

  •       Atılım University
  •       ‘Bahçeşehir University’
  •       Beykent University
  •       Doğuş University
  •       Haliç University
  •       Istanbul Arel University
  •       Istanbul Aydın University
  •       ‘Istanbul Bilgi University’*
  •       ‘Istanbul Kültür University’
  •       İzmir Ekonomi University
  •       Istanbul Maltepe University
  •       Yaşar University
  •       ‘Yeditepe University’

 

* Istanbul Bilgi University architecture department has a postgraduate program which was initiated in 2005; undergraduate program is initiated in 2010.

Architecture education is governed by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) both in state and private universities. Students have to pass a central assessment exam in order to be registered to a university. Students can choose their schools and departments according to the grades they obtain in this exam. There are no exams evaluating the student’s skill in any department of architecture in Turkey. The architectural education last 4 years excluding the English preparation classes required in some universities. The average graduation time may extend to 5 or sometimes 6 years in some schools.

Two months internship is obligatory for many schools in a four years period. After graduation the students are given the Architects Diploma which enables them to start practicing. In order to design a building or to enter an architectural competition, besides the need of a diploma the architect has to be registered to the CAT.

Amongst the 35 universities who have architectural departments, 9 of them are members of the ERASMUS student exchange program.

            CAT has also initiated a “continuous education in the profession” program where some events related to architecture and urbanism are graded and collected. Those grades are then recorded to the architect’s files. Even though CAT claims that grades will be required for all practicing architects to continue their registration status, after the law suits opened by architect Murat Artu, the court order made the grade system invalid in November 2008.