The Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) launched the Architecture course in 1998 with the purpose of training architects in a culture of rigour, with high technical knowledge, enabling them to establish an effective dialogue with other experts with whom they must interact in order to develop architecture projects without, however, neglecting the artistic and cultural component.

The study plan is developed around the architecture project and includes the areas of basic sciences, architectural culture and technologies. At the end of the course, students shall develop a dissertation included in the final project. The teaching method used in Project is focused on the resolution of problems and on experimentation. It is taught through a sequence of analyses and programmes of intervention within the context of buildings and urban areas, ranging from a very elementary level and reduced requirements to a complex one allowing students to be integrated in an environment that is close to the working life.

As the IST is a university traditionally oriented to the teaching of engineering sciences, the course contents will allow students to acquire skills in the technical aspects and ensure the efficiency of proposed solutions. As happens in the best European engineering courses, and in cooperation with prestigious schools in this area, students and future architects of the IST will be qualified to communicate in an easy way with all stakeholders linked to the construction and buildings and to urban planning.