Background

Architects in North America first began to identify themselves as professionals at the end of the eighteenth century but it was not until the last third of the nineteenth century that colleges and universities in the United States and Canada began to offer formal architectural training. Among the earliest programs were those at Pennsylvania Polytechnical College (1861), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1868), the University of Illinois (1870), and Cornell (1871). Since then, North American architecture education has evolved continuously, maturing from its origins in the British apprenticeship, French Beaux-Arts, and German polytechnical systems. Today architects receive their training primarily, although not exclusively, within the academic setting of the modern university. In this changing historical context, the proper training of students for a profession that combines the humanities, fine arts, applied sciences, and public service has been the subject of ongoing theoretical debate and practical revision.