Fontys University of Applied Sciences
Master UrbanismTilburg, Netherlands
DURATION
4 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Request earliest startdate
TUITION FEES
EUR 2,601 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* statutory tuition fees Full-time| statutory tuition fees Part-time- € 2.395 | institutional tuition fee: € 8.570
Key Summary
Introduction
Our society, climate, technology, and the way we humans use our cities are facing immense changes. The purpose of urbanism is to respond to these changes and create futureproof, climate-resilient, and inclusive cities through our research, design, and practical processes. In this master’s programme, you’ll learn how to effectively combine design intelligence with a reflective attitude and practical skills. The competence-based curriculum is geared towards mastering seven crucial competencies: design, research, collaboration, communication, entrepreneurial skills, organization, and professional practice. You’ll gain experience and education beyond the school curriculum by combining your study with employment in a professional environment. Additionally, the academy itself is a laboratory for spatial assignments from real stakeholders, and the studio is the perfect place to apply new skills and methods to create design proposals for complex spatial problems.
Why this master
- Our programme is designed in such a way that you’ll work and study at the same time. You'll gain creative research and design skills at our Academy while developing practical skills at your workplace. On top of this, you can earn a salary.
- You’ll be part of Fontys Academy of the Arts, a creative learning community.
- Our tutors are professionals from a variety of disciplines with a strong relation to practice.
- Our international environment gives you a broad view of real-world problems and hands-on solutions to tackle these challenges.
- As you work in our design studio, your tutors will emphasize personal attention to guide you through the design and research process.
- After graduation, you’ll be eligible to register immediately with the Dutch Architecture Register and start working as an (independent) urbanist.
What does your week look like
The course is carried out in a 40-week intensive programme. You’ll work in the Design studio at Fontys in Tilburg one day per week. Alongside this, self-study comprises 10 hours and practical work 20 hours per week. You’ll follow theory classes once a week.
Admissions
Curriculum
Year 1
We welcome graduated students from a range of different schools, disciplines, and cultural and professional backgrounds. The first year is fully dedicated to developing a designer attitude towards the world around us. The Core studio programme is supported by a range of skill-based training and a theoretical foundation on architecture and urban design, economy, sustainable design, and art history. Your learning outcomes will be assessed based on a portfolio.
Years 2 and 3
During the second and third years, you’ll follow a total of 8 studio projects, workshops, and a large number of advanced skill-based training. You’ll also engage in research and an in-depth theory programme. The studio assessments will confront students with a variety of different assignments, methodologies, and levels of complexity. Each year, students will organise an international study trip to visit projects abroad. This study trip enables you to test your skills in a new context and get acquainted with other ways to approach a challenge.
Year 4
The graduation studio project takes up one full year through two possible formats: individual and/or team-driven. Every student, either in the architecture or urbanism course, will follow the same process-based planning. The process will be supported by both personal and external tutors and project presentations with reviews at the academy. Research and analysis take three months, during which the chosen issues of the self-defined assignment will be addressed. You will attend several lectures by professionals to find inspiration throughout the process. All research, strategies, experiments, and design work during the year will be interrelated and are aimed at tackling urgent societal issues for future generations.
Program Outcome
What will you be learning
The programme focuses on skills, design, and theory. Due to the nature of our profession, a theoretical basis is important. Our theory classes will help you to broaden your mind and understand the underlying process of our society, so naturally, these classes include the history of urbanism. Philosophy, Economy, and Entrepreneurship are other theory classes that provide you with a different perspective to your possible role as an urbanist. Project-based learning lies at the core of the study programme. Your assignments will tackle a particular challenge or issue that you’ll work on individually or in teams. For example, you may want to create a more inclusive city or develop a vision of the relationship between the city and surrounding landscape. The studio work will be combined with various research courses to provide a strong foundation.
- You’ll learn to take different methods to approach a challenge: sometimes, a top-down approach is the best way to work, while at other times, a bottom-up participatory design process will be more successful.
- There will be an emphasis on integrating different scales and developing holistic designs. Each design has an influence on multiple scales; you’ll learn how a decision at the regional scale affects the design of a public space in a neighbourhood, and vice versa.
- Mastering how to position yourself is important and will be taken on too. The role of an urbanist is broad. You could be a facilitator of a spatial process, an intermediary between different actors, or you may want to focus more on urban design. We’ll open you up to the possibilities and enable you to become the urbanist that you envision yourself to be.
Scholarships and Funding
The NL scholarship provides a partial scholarship for the first year of your studies at our University and is financed by Fontys University of Applied Sciences and the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.
Scholarship
The scholarship amounts to € 5,000. You will receive this in the first year of your studies.
Some of the Fontys' programmes offer the NL Scholarship for non-EEA students. Visit the website to see which programmes offer this scholarship. You might also be eligible for other scholarships not provided by Fontys.
Career Opportunities
After graduation
Graduates from this Urbanism programme will be able to take an integrated, design-led approach in tackling complex issues of their environment in a national and/or international context. This gives them a variety of career prospects in urban design and other related fields. After graduation, alumni can immediately register with the Dutch Architecture Register and begin working as (independent) urbanists.