The place of architectural design studios in Portugal in response to the Bologna agreement

Abstract

The curriculum harmonization of European university courses, converging for a European High-er Education Area by the so called Bologna Process (1999-2010), relocated the debate about the specificity of education in architecture, and its traditional methodology of learning by design, within the University environment. This paper approaches the structural, organizational and curricular developments of a group of Portuguese architectural schools, describing the changes driven by the Bologna Process and inquiring to what extent they present a change to the organization, the contents and the significance of traditional teaching of architectural design.