Architecture and the Built Environment

The Department of Architecture and the Built Environment teaches and carries out research in the design of the built environment and building process; from planning and building to management. Apart from having the main responsibility for teaching in the Programme in Architecture, courses are also given in the Industrial Design, Cadastral Surveying, Fire Protection Engineering and Civil Engineering programmes.

Website of the department of Architecture and the Build Environment (in Swedish)

Overview of main subject areas:

The subject Architecture and Culture focuses on architecture in its theoretical, cultural and historical context. We focus on the effects and consequences of existing built and unbuilt environments.

The subject of Architecture, Form and Design focuses on the creation of architectural form itself, where architecture is understood as a spatial material practice that generates social, cultural and ideological meanings. We are interested in how architecture can be used as a tool to challenge norms and conventions in construction or how speculative design and material experimentation can deepen architectural thinking and point to alternative future realities. Central to the subject is to critically engage with and actively develop the relationship between architecture as a form-making discipline and architecture as a professional practice.

In Environmental Psychology research is carried out on how people perceive and are affected by their environment, for example: interiors, the urban environment and the countryside, and how people influence their environment through their behaviour. We also study the needs of various groups in society, such as the elderly, the handicapped and children. Some of our current research projects include the effects of light on our health and well-being, and the importance of colour in how people perceive the urban environment. Other projects include the perception of, and attitudes towards wind turbines, and school environments for children with cognitive functional disorders. 

Keywords: environmental effects, human needs, perception, holistic view, effects of colour

Website of the subject area Environmental Psychology

Several of the staff working in Housing Development and Management (HDM) are engaged in teaching and research on housing and design as well as construction and use of the urban environment, especially in developing countries. They collaborate with and offer support to: politicians, architects and building planners in for example: Latin America and North Africa. Further education is also provided for experts and researchers from other countries. 

Keywords: community planning, disaster prevention, social integration, housing financing, gender perspectives in planning, UN’s millennium goals, slums

Website of Housing Development and Management (HDM)

Urban design and Urbanism is about teaching and research related to urban planning and the design of public space, where the subject aims to promote sustainable development. It includes teachers from the Master's programme in Sustainable Urban Design (SUDes).

Research in the subject is mainly concerned with the study of urban space and its possibilities. It also studies issues of social segregation, blue-green solutions in open urban spaces, support for sustainable everyday activities, and how spatial design and materiality affect human interactions.

Keywords: town, urban, regional, planning, social, economic, sustainability, urbanization, urban design, urban development, daily life, urban theory

Website of the Master's programme in Sustainable Urban Design