Architecture (B.A.)
ABOUT
You consider yourself an innovator, a visionary, and most of all a student of design. You enjoy looking at buildings and spaces and thinking about what makes them great. You understand that architecture and the places it helps to shape will play a central role in our society in the decades ahead - creating solutions for many of the challenges facing us and answering questions about how we will live, work and play. You want to help find those answers; you want to design the future. At Clemson, you will join an intense, close-knit community of award-winning professors, gifted practitioners and motivated students. You will learn how to think with your hands and emerge ready to continue on to graduate school to become a licensed architect or enter the design profession.
FAST FACTS
- The Lee Hall complex offers students an inspiring environment that elegantly blends historic and contemporary modern architecture.
- Our Fluid Campus offers study in Charleston, South Carolina; Genoa, Italy; and Barcelona, Spain, cultivating the understanding of diverse urban environments and cultures.
- The Clemson School of Architecture's reputation assures employers that our graduates are prepared and ready to hit the ground running.
- We are a design program that celebrates critical thinking as well as the craft of making and doing.
- We offer a culture of strong faculty-student engagement, with a focus on sustainability and healthy communities.
WHAT YOU'LL STUDY
At Clemson the undergraduate curriculum is conceptualized as fluid, broadening the education to allow students to transform into diverse, well-rounded and proficient critical thinkers and designers. The concept of fluidity builds upon the existing Fluid Campus where students are given the choice to study in Genoa, Italy; Barcelona, Spain; Charleston, South Carolina; or Clemson. Fluidity is also evident in the general education requirements where students choose a minor as well as a foreign language. Fluid is choice. Choice broadens experience and encourages students to shape their own educational path.
Through every part of our curriculum, you'll be encouraged to tap into your creativity and learn to express that creativity in your approach to design projects. You will learn the basics of building design and construction, and lay the groundwork for pursuing a master's degree in architecture and other design fields.
Your first five semesters of study focus on teaching foundational skills, which prepare you for the Fluid Campus. Courses in design, drawing and computer applications, as well as required courses in science, math, social sciences and the humanities give you a broad base to build upon in your advanced level classes. Computer integration in the design studios is emphasized in the second year. First- and second-year students study public speaking, making our students well prepared to speak professionally about their work.
Accreditation
Clemson's undergraduate architecture program is a pre-professional program. Clemson's graduate architecture program is accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), which is the sole agency authorized to accredit U.S. professional degree programs in architecture. See full accreditation statement here.
Curriculum
Popular Minors
- Art
- Business Administration
- Modern Languages
- Packaging Science
EXPERIENCES BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
With every task you take on - inside and outside the classroom - you'll develop critical-thinking, research and analysis skills, and an ability to engage theory and culture with an understanding of how these forces work together in the built environment.
AFTER GRADUATION
Your college decision isn't really about the next four years. We get it. It's about what doors are opened by your degree and whether those opportunities are what you had envisioned for yourself. Here's a snapshot of what life after graduation looks like for some of our most recent students.
WHERE OUR RECENT GRADUATES HAVE GONE
KEY
- 41-100%
- 21-40%
- 11-20%
- 0-10%
RECENT EMPLOYERS
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Junior Architect
R2L Architects
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Junior Designer
Vinyet Architecture
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Junior Designer
Equip Studio
-
Entry-level Designer
5th Dimension Inc.
-
Designer
Osterlund Architects
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Associate Principal
5G Collaborative Studio
-
Senior Architect
Bjarke Ingels Group NYC
-
Associate
Handel Architects
-
Junior Architect
RPBW Architects
RECENT POSTGRADUATE STUDIES
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M.Arch.
Southern California Institute of Architecture
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Master of Resilient Urban Design
Clemson University
-
M.Arch.
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
-
M.Arch.
University of Texas Austin
-
M.S. Historic Preservation
University of Pennsylvania
-
M.Arch.
Yale University
-
Master of Real Estate Development
Clemson University
-
M.Arch.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
-
M.Arch.
University of Michigan
-
M.Arch.
Georgia Tech
-
M.Arch.
UCLA
-
M.Arch.
Harvard University
-
M.Arch.
Columbia University
-
M.Arch.
University of Virginia
-
M.Arch.
Princeton University
-
M.Arch.
Cornell University
-
M.Arch.
Pratt Institute
-
M.Arch.
Rhode Island School of Design
COMMON CAREER AREAS
- Residential Architecture
- Commercial and Institutional Architecture
- Related Professional
- Urban Planning
- Real Estate Developing
- Contracting
- Property Assessment
- Landscape Design
- Product Design
- Graphic Design
- Interior Design
- Digital Fabrication
- Engineering
- Consulting
- Project Management
- Product Development and Marketing
- Law
- Writing and Journalism
- Set Designers
- Education
- Teaching
- Research
- Administration
- Information and Library Science
- Historic Preservation
- Architectural History
- Curating
- Architectural Conservatory
- Preservation and Restoration
- Research
- Historic Interior Design
FIND OUT MORE
Have more questions or want more information? Fill out the form below, which goes directly to the following department contact. If you’d also like to receive general University information from Clemson’s admissions office, please follow the link to the right and sign up to join our mailing list.
Timothy Brown
Undergraduate Programs Director
864-656-3914
tb2@clemson.edu