Architect
🏛Designs buildings, from sketches and 3D models to construction drawings, balancing people, the city, budget, building codes and structure.
Prospects & pay
What the work is like
💼 Job market
🇺🇸 $124k a year on average · +4.3% jobs by 2035 · 6,900 openings a year
Architects, except landscape and naval — US: Census ACS 2020–24 (full-time), BLS projections 2025–35
🇬🇧 £47.1k median a year · 29,000 jobs
Architects — UK: ONS ASHE 2025 (full-time)
🤖 AI & automation
AI generates layouts, renderings and drawings in minutes; the architect becomes the author of the concept and takes responsibility for the project.
Who it suits
Interests: 🏗️ Building and spaces, 🎨 Drawing and design, 📐 Maths and data, 🏛️ History, society, politics.
Key strengths: artistic taste, maths, logic.
Where to study
- Bachelor's BA/BSc Architecture (RIBA Part 1), B.Arch (US)
- Master's MArch (RIBA Part 2), professional master's in the EU
- Course Practical experience and licensing exam (RIBA Part 3, ARE in the US)
Key school subjects (A-level / IB / AP): Maths, Art & Design, Physics.
🧗 UK: 3-year degree, a year in practice, 2-year master's and Part 3 exam (about 7 years); US: B.Arch/M.Arch, experience and the ARE. A regulated profession: registration in the country is required.
Universities
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- The Bartlett, University College London London
BSc Architecture: portfolio and interview; A-levels/IB or UCL UPC; fee not verified on the UCL site * - University of Cambridge Cambridge · €33.4k–81.1k/yr
IELTS 7.5 (7.0 each); subject test (ESAT, TMUA, LNAT, UCAT), interview; apply by 15 Oct; plus college fee £12–14.5k/yr - Architectural Association School of Architecture London · €36.2k/yr
Private school: portfolio + interview; ≈£31,500/yr + deposit (secondary sources); own Foundation course *
🇺🇸 United States
- Cornell University Ithaca, NY · €64.3k/yr
SAT/ACT required; IELTS 7.5 / TOEFL 5.0 (5.5 rec.) / DET 130; need-aware for internationals - Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA · €58k/yr
SAT/ACT required; TOEFL 90+ (100 rec.) / IELTS 7; own application (not Common App); need-blind for internationals, full need met - Rice University Houston · €61.9k/yr
TOEFL 100 (new 5.0) / IELTS 7 / DET 130; SAT/ACT optional; need-aware, aid for a limited number of internationals
🇩🇪 Germany
- Technical University of Munich Munich · €4k–6k/yr
Non-EU: €2,000-3,000/semester (€2,300-3,400 from 2027/28); German C1 (DSH-2/TestDaF 4x4); aptitude assessment (EfV): grades, test, interview - University of Stuttgart Stuttgart · €3k/yr
Non-EU: €1,500 a semester (Baden-Württemberg); German C1 (DSH-2/TestDaF 4x4); architecture: aptitude test * - Bauhaus-Universität Weimar Weimar · free
No tuition; German C1 (DSH-2/TestDaF 4x4); architecture and design: aptitude test/portfolio *
🇳🇱 Netherlands
- Delft University of Technology Delft · €19.9k/yr
VWO level: Russian certificate assessed individually (usually + 1 university year); IELTS 6.5 (Dutch-taught 5.5); NF: Architecture, Clinical Technology - Eindhoven University of Technology Eindhoven · €18.6k/yr
VWO level with maths and physics; Russian certificate assessed individually (usually + 1 university year); IELTS ≈ 6.5; all bachelors in English
🇫🇷 France
- ENSA Paris-Belleville Paris
Architecture licence: foreigners apply via DAP (blue file), French B2, file + interview * - ENSA Paris-Malaquais Paris
Architecture licence: foreigners apply via DAP (blue file), French B2, file + interview * - ENSA Lyon Vaulx-en-Velin
Architecture licence: foreigners apply via DAP (blue file), French B2, file + interview *
🇮🇹 Italy
- Politecnico di Milano Milan · €160–3.9k/yr
TOL (≥30/100) or SAT ≥620 per section; English/Italian B2; 12 school years, else a university year or foundation - Politecnico di Torino Turin
TIL test or SAT (not for architecture); English/Italian B2; 12 school years, else first university year or foundation - Iuav University of Venice Venice
12 school years; Italian B2; architecture/design entrance test *
🇪🇸 Spain
- ETSAM – Polytechnic University of Madrid Madrid · €6.8k–8.2k/yr
Spanish B2 (ACLES/DELE); homologation + UNEDasiss, PCE; non-EU pay 4th-attempt rate - ETSAB – Polytechnic University of Catalonia Barcelona · €1.8k/yr
Homologation + UNEDasiss, PCE; non-EU €30/ECTS; some classes in Catalan - University of Navarra School of Architecture Pamplona · €16.9k–17.3k/yr
Private: own admission process; year 1 €16,900–17,300 (2026/27)
🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- Czech Technical University in Prague Prague · €0–5.1k/yr
Free in Czech (Czech B2, maths); English-taught CZK 55,000–64,000 per semester - Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (UMPRUM) Prague · free
Talent exams/portfolio; free in Czech (Czech ≈B2); English programmes charge fees, not checked * - Brno University of Technology Brno · free
Free in Czech: Czech ≈B2 + entrance exams, certificate nostrification *
Things to know
🪑 Sitting at a computer all day
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