New Ranking of the World’s Top Architecture Schools

Discover the top architecture schools based on the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2020.

Included in the QS World University Rankings by Subject for the first time this year is a new ranking of the world’s top architecture schools. If you’re looking to study architecture at university and want to find a school with a strong global reputation in the field, read on for an overview of the world’s 100 top universities for architecture, categorized by region. For the full interactive ranking table, click here.

Top 10 Architecture Schools in the World Based on the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2015
Rank	Name of Institution	Location
1	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)	United States
2	UCL (University College London, Bartlett School of Architecture)	United Kingdom
3	Delft University of Technology	Netherlands
4	University of California, Berkeley (UCB)	United States
5	Harvard University	United States
6	National University of Singapore (NUS)	Singapore
7	ETH Zurich	Switzerland
8	Tsinghua University	China
9	University of Cambridge	United Kingdom
10	The University of Tokyo	Japan
See the full architecture ranking >

 

Top architecture schools in the US & Canada

The US has a total of 14 universities ranked among the world’s top 50 for architecture, and a further 8 ranked within the top 100. Aside from the three featured in the top 10 – MIT, University of California, Berkeley, and Harvard University – other US universities in the top 30 include Columbia University (11^th for architecture; 14^th in the overall QS World University Rankings®), the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA, 18^th for architecture; 37^th in the world rankings), the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (25^th for architecture; 63^rd in the world rankings), Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech, 26^th for architecture; 107^th in the world rankings), Cornell University (27^th for architecture;  19^th in the world rankings) and Stanford University (30^th for architecture; 7^th in the world rankings).

Four of Canada’s leading architecture schools are also ranked within the top 100 worldwide. These are the University of British Columbia (20^th for architecture; 43^rd in the world rankings), the University of Toronto (36^th for architecture; 20^th in the world rankings), McGill University (51-100 for architecture; 21^st in the world rankings) and the University of Waterloo (51-100 for architecture; 169^th in the world rankings). For more information about studying in North America, visit our regional guide.

Top architecture schools in Europe

A total of 32 European institutions are ranked among the world’s top 100 for architecture, with 11 of these based in the UK. As well as UCL and the University of Cambridge – both among the world’s top 10 universities for architecture – other UK representatives include Cardiff University (29^th for architecture; 123^rd in the world rankings), the University of Salford (39^th for architecture; 701+ in the world rankings), the University of Sheffield (44^th for architecture; 69^th in the world rankings) and Oxford Brookes University (48^th for architecture; 379^th in the world rankings).

Outside of the UK, Germany claims four of the world’s top 100 architecture schools, led by Technische Universität München which ranks 46^th for architecture (54^th in the world rankings). Up next is Sweden, with three entrants, of which the leader is KTH, Royal Institute of Technology in 21^st place (110^th in the world rankings).

Four more European countries are each home to two of the world’s top universities for architecture. These include Italy, which boasts Politecnico di Milano in 14^th place (229^th in the world rankings, and Spain, whose Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya appears in joint 22^nd place (337^th in the world rankings). Switzerland is home to ETH Zurich, which ranks among the top 10, and also Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), in 24^th place (17^th in the world rankings). The Netherlands offers Delft University of Technology in 3^rd place, and the Eindhoven University of Technology in 28^th (147^th in the world rankings)

Other European countries represented among the world’s 100 top universities for architecture include Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania and Norway. For more information about studying in Europe, visit our European country guides.

Top architecture schools in Latin America

In Latin America, Brazil and Chile lead the way, each claiming two universities ranked within the top 100 for architecture. The Universidade de São Paulo  (33=for architecture; 132^nd in the world rankings) and the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (51-100 for architecture; 271^st in the world rankings) are Brazil’s offerings. In Chile, the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC) comes in at 31^st (167^th in the world rankings) and the Universidad de Chile within the top 100 (220^th in the world rankings).

Two more Latin American universities feature. These are Argentina’s Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA, 198^th in the world rankings) and Mexico’s Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM, 175^th in the world rankings).

To discover more of the top universities in Latin America, see the latest QS University Rankings: Latin America, or visit our full range of Latin American country guides.

Top architecture schools in Asia

Three Asian universities – Singapore’s National University of Singapore, China’s Tsinghua University and Japan’s University of Tokyo – are ranked within the global top 10 for architecture. A further 20 Asian institutions feature in the top 100.

Excluding those already mentioned, five more leading architecture departments are claimed by mainland China, including Tongji University (16^th for architecture; 393^rd in the world rankings) and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (41= for architecture; 104^th in the world rankings). Hong Kong brings a total of four schools to the table, of which The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (12^th for architecture; 162^nd in the world rankings) and the University of Hong Kong (HKU, 13^th for architecture; 28^th in the world rankings) are the highest ranked.

South Korea also boasts four top architecture schools, with its highest entrant, Seoul National University (SNU), in 19^th place (31^st in the world rankings).

Both Japan and Malaysia have three schools in the running, while Taiwan and Thailand offer one apiece. Heading west of mainland Asia, Israel also has one entrant: Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (190^th in the world rankings).

To discover more of the top universities in Asia, see the latest QS University Rankings: Asia, and visit our Asian country guides.

Top architecture schools in Australia & New Zealand

Eleven universities in Australia are featured in the architecture subject rankings, led by the University of Melbourne (15^th for architecture; 33^rd in the world rankings), followed closely by the University of Sydney (17^th for architecture; 37^th in the world rankings) and the University of New South Wales (UNSW, 22^nd for architecture; 48^th in the world rankings).

Also within the top 50 are RMIT University (304^th in the world rankings), the University of Queensland (43^rd in the world rankings), the University of Newcastle (257^th in the world rankings) and Monash University (70^th in the world rankings).

Neighboring New Zealand boasts one top architecture school, The University of Auckland, which places 45^th for architecture and 92^nd in the world rankings.

Find out more about studying in Australia and New Zealand with our country guides.

Want more content like this? Register for free site membership to get regular updates and your own personal content feed.