Sapienza University of Rome

Master of Science in Architecture (Conservation)

The specific objective of the master's Degree, which satisfies the qualifying learning objectives of the class LM-4, is the achievement of a peculiar sensibility and ability related to the modalities of intervention on pre-existing architectural and environmental heritage, and to the quality design of new architecture, taking into account the relationships with the pre-existent and the historical city. During its two years, the Masters Degree builds up on the skills acquired in the Undergraduate Degree, enhancing them to a specialist’s level, with particular reference to:

• the historical-critical analysis of architecture, in its broadest sense (from the single manufacture to landscape and environment);
• the ability to plan and execute, both concerning modern architectural production and the conservation and recovery of pre-existing structures;
• specific scientific knowledge, acquired critically.

Curricular Variety

The Master's Degree’s single curriculum revolves around the themes linked to interventions on the existing architectural and environmental heritage, and to the design of new architecture.

Teaching Instruments

The profile of studies includes the integration of design, humanist, and technical-scientific subjects.

To achieve the listed objectives, graduates must:

• Know in depth the history of architecture, the construction industry, urban design, architectural conservation, and other activities through which the environment is transformed, which are related to the profession of the architect and of structural-architectural engineering, as defined by directive 85/384/CEE;
• Know in depth the instruments and forms of representation;
• Know in depth the theoretical-scientific (as well as methodological-operational) aspects of mathematics and other core sciences, and employ such knowledge to interpret and describe complex issues that might require an interdisciplinary approach;
• Know in-depth theoretical-scientific and methodological-operational aspects of architecture and construction industry, urban design, and architectural conservation, and to be able to employ this knowledge to identify, formulate, and solve in an innovative way complex problems, that might require an interdisciplinary approach;
• Possess knowledge of the field of the organization of firms and companies and the profession’s ethics and deontology;
• Be fluent, in written and oral communication, in at least another EU language other than Italian, including the profession’s specialized lexicon;

Program Structure

The two-year course unfolds through activities that are articulated and interrelated between characterizing, related, and integrative subjects.

The first group will focus on the ability to read and interpret problems related to architecture and urban design and, in parallel, to problems related to the conservation and restoration of the existing building heritage.

An appropriate preparation will be provided, in particular, in the subjects of architectural design (first and second year), methods of the history of architecture (first year), survey (first year), the project of conservation and restoration (second year), of technical construction (first year), of architecture technology (first year), of technical physics (first year) and of management of re-development operations and of building recovery, in the city and in historical centers (second year).

The second group aims to provide further practical knowledge in the fields of diagnostics and the technical aspects of conservation (first year).

The student will have the possibility to customize their formation, through elective credits and the final dissertation.

The Study Course Regulations define, within their legal limits, the amount of total time the student possesses for studying or for other formative, individual activities.

First-year

First semester

• Tools and methods for historical research
• Structural engineering of ancient and modern buildings
• Architectural survey

Second semester

• Design Studio 1
• Structural consolidation and HVAC plant in historical buildings
• Technological design for the architectural requalification

Second year

First semester

Economic evaluation of projects

Second semester

• Design Studio 2
• Conservation design studio
• Urban regeneration and cultural heritage regulatory framework
• Elective courses
• Final test

The Master's Degree will be awarded to students who have developed a high ability to learn autonomously, to proceed to further studies (higher level training), and to continue learning and updating their knowledge with a high degree of autonomy.

These skills will be acquired mainly through characterizing, related, and integrative activities, as these units will have a critical approach to knowledge, together with exercises aiming at the development of these skills.

Graduates usually work in:

• Private practices, companies, and firms concerned with planning: for architectural design, urban design, conservation, for the direction of the construction of new buildings, for the survey, investigation, and diagnostics of the conditions of the existing settlement heritage
• Construction firms: for the planning, survey, technical investigation, and direction of construction sites;
• Territory-management bodies (ministries, regional authorities, economic bodies, normative bodies): for the planning, investigation, and survey of settlement structures, concerning general planning or executive actions (detailed plans, urban restoration plans sustainable development plans, etc), and for the technical-administrative management of the works;
• Regional authorities for cultural and environmental heritage, authorities for architectural and landscape heritage, archaeological authorities: for the historical study, the critical survey, investigations, and diagnostics of the architectural and environmental heritage, and for the technical-administrative management, including the direction of works
• Institutions, companies, and firms working in the sector of control of environmental impact, also through the employment of systems of remote monitoring, geographical information systems (GIS), and the main monitoring networks.

Graduates who have a sufficient number of ECTSs in appropriate groups of sectors can apply, in compliance with current legislation, to admission tests for secondary teaching training.
Further studies include PhDs in the Study Course’s Departments of reference, in particular, the PhDs active in the main Department of reference (History, Design and Conservation of Architecture); moreover, further studies can be carried out at the Specialization School in Beni Architettonici e del Paesaggio (Architecture and Landscape Heritage), active at the Faculty of Architecture.