The Department of Architecture houses the architecture, urban planning and spatial planning programmes of KU Leuven. Its ambition is to play a pioneering international role in the research conducted in these fields. This research concerns the built environment as a designed artefact (hence the importance of creativity and aesthetics), an artefact that is simultaneously driven by historical, cultur
al, social, political, physical, economic and technological factors. The diversified approach within the department is characterised by attention to sustainability, social innovation and the way in which the built space can be the bearer of multiplicity and ambiguity. Research in the department is aimed at transdisciplinarity, with an emphasis on the interaction between various disciplinary approaches (engineering, design, urban planning, spatial planning, humanities, social sciences) in their engagement with various stakeholders and with everyday practice in planning, designing, building and managing the built environment. This research forms the basis for the educational programmes, with an ambition to play an important role in the national top (through Bachelor's and Master's programmes) and the international top (through Advanced Master's programmes and PhD programmes).
