Academics
Grounded in history, united in Mission
Grounded in history, united in Mission
We impart to our students the significance of the continuity of ideas and forms, of architecture as the shaper of collective living, as a solid and durable expression of social and cultural values that are measured by centuries and not by a mere few years. Our students are educated in a program that strives to preserve and advance the classical and vernacular traditions of the world while engaging in new design that applies these traditions and transforms them for further consideration by future architects.
"It wasn’t until I got to Notre Dame that I realized what it was like to not just design buildings, but places —to walk rather than take your car everywhere, to know your neighbor, and sit on your front porch to enjoy the sunset. That’s when I started becoming infatuated with the idea of becoming an architect of places, not just of buildings. This has guided my practice for the last 20 years.”
Joe Nikol ’05, YARD & Co.
Most importantly, in designing a livable and desirable future, we direct our students toward delivering beautiful, durable, and resilient buildings in balance with nature. Our students face this awesome responsibility daily as a whole as well as within its various organizational and instructional details.
The new traditional architecture and urbanism that our curriculum embraces is not a style. It is both a design approach and a cultural choice. As a design approach, it relies on vital intellectual virtues and cultural obligations that are tested through critique-based studio instruction. As a choice, it proposes that architecture should be based on highly refined design ideas that are renewed over time and relayed from person to person and project to project.
"What your graduates accomplish in my office is the key to our success and the work I see when I visit your studios is absolutely exceptional."
- Peter Pennoyer, 2024 Richard H. Driehaus Prize Laureate
The Pursuit of Excellence
Each year our students win up to $10,000 in scholarships and fellowships during their pursuit of excellence in architecture and urban design.
We teach that the civic duty to create and support resilient societies is accomplished through intentional and rational design that supports the quality of life of all people across the demographic scale while it considers our evolving human and environmental needs.
Exemplary work is rewarded with monetary rewards available during all five years of your educational journey.
- 99% job acceptance following graduation
- 52 Architects, Scholars, Historians, and Practitioners educating students each year in South Bend and Rome
- 128 years of educating future architects and urbanists
- 2800+ students who have lived and studied in Rome
