Environmental Architecture and Urbanism Program


Program Description

Driven by the current urgency of building more environmentally friendly buildings and cities, the environmental Architecture and Urbanism Program (ENVR) aims at preparing architects and urban designers specialized in environmental design. Graduates are capable of understanding the relationship between humans and buildings and between buildings and their environment. They can integrate all the aspects dealing with the built environment and how it is planned, designed, used, furnished, landscaped, managed, and valued by the society in their creative thinking while dealing with complex architectural and urban environment problems. The program introduces students to building science and enables them to conceive the basic concepts of sustainable architecture and urbanism. They are trained to balance functional and ecological demands when developing policies or designs for new construction. Graduate will be able to deal with modern techniques and tools for learning and linking theory and practice. All efforts are directed towards achieving environmental architecture and urbanism.

Career Prospects

The acquired skills through the program qualifies the graduates to occupy a wide range of jobs, fulfilling the market’s diversity of needs. They can work as architects or urban designers whether in multi-national and local companies or in architectural, urban design firms and environmental design consultancies. Moreover, graduates will be equipped to work in fields of interior design, visualization using computer graphics, 3D modelling, and model making. Specializations extend as well to dimensions of project/construction management, site supervision, and quantity surveying. The ENVR graduates can deal with environmental building assessment techniques and be aware of issues related to building energy efficiency, net zero systems and net plus systems. The current market in Egypt is thriving for such kind of interdisciplinary-skilled graduates who have strong background in environmental design that is highly needed nowadays.  

Program Concentrations

There are no specified concentrations in this Program.

Agreements and International Accreditation

The BSc (Hons) Environmental Architecture and Urbanism is the first program in Ain Shams University to get International Accreditation in 2022. The Accreditation body is the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (CIAT) in the UK https://architecturaltechnology.com. CIAT is a dynamic, forward-thinking and inclusive global membership qualifying body for Architectural Technology. CIAT represents those practicing and studying within the discipline and profession. It is a membership organization representing 10,000 members within the discipline who wish to be professionally recognised. CIAT Accreditation ensures that the program has been assessed in terms of content, structure, resources and has met the Institute’s requirements. The benefit of studying on a CIAT Accredited Program is that it will support individuals wishing to become Chartered Architectural Technologists.
Furthermore, the program has the potential of two options of Dual Degrees; The first Dual Degree option is a partnership with the University of East London (UEL), United Kingdom for a Bachelor Dual Degree. The Graduates should receive two B.Sc. certificates, one from the University of East London, and one from Ain Shams University. Students are allowed to study a full year or more in London with a 10% reduction in the UK tuition fees. The second Dual Degree option is a partnership with Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria in Italy (UNIRC). After successfully finishing  a 5-years degree course, 300 ECTS between ASU and UNIRC, the student gets a B.Sc. certificate from ASU and a Master from UNIRC.

Program Competences

In addition to the competences for all Engineering Programs (A-Level), the Environmental Architecture and Urbanism Program graduate must be able to (D-Level):

  • D1: Create aesthetically pleasing and technically sound architectural and urban designs by using the architectural and urban planning principles, history and theories, technologies, economics, human sciences and local culture and heritage.
  • D2: Produce designs that meet building users’ requirements through studying the relationship between people and buildings, and between buildings and their environment.
  • D3: Prepare design project briefs and documents and analyse the context of the architecture in the construction industry, including the architect’s role in the processes of bidding, procurement of architectural services, and building production.
  • D4: Solve problems and creatively design sustainable building schemes or urban contexts that demonstrate awareness and integration of information and processes in project work by using building environmental systems and management together with the underlying concepts and theories.
  • D5: Realize the process of sustainable building and urban design and their various components through the integration of structural design, construction, technology and engineering problems associated with building designs.
  • D6: Coordinate and monitor the production of information and data from a variety of sources, including drawings, specifications, codes of practice, related to principals of environmental architecture and urbanism.
  • D7: Apply appropriate mathematical and computer-based methods for modelling and analysing environmental design problems.
  • D8: Judge engineering decisions considering balanced costs, benefits, risks, safety, quality, reliability, and environmental impact, while having adequate knowledge of industries, organizations, regulations and procedures involved.
  • D9: Produce professional technical and workshop drawings to transform the concepts into buildings using traditional drawing tools and computer-aided drawings’ techniques, as well as building information modelling techniques.
  • D10: Exchange knowledge and skills with engineering sectors and industrial sectors working in the field of environmental control.

Required Courses

In order to get a Bachelor of Science Degree in this program, and to satisfy the Program Competences, the following set of courses need to be completed.

Table 31 List of Environmental Architecture and Urbanism Program Requirements courses.

Code Course Title Credits and SWL Contact Hours
CH ECTS SWL Lec Tut Lab TT
University Requirements Courses 14 21 525 14 8 0 22
Faculty Requirements Courses 42 92 2300 36 25 14 75
ARC111s Principles of Architecture Design Studio 3 6 150 1 5 0 6
ARC113s Vernacular Architecture Design Studio  3 6 150 0 6 0 6
ARC213s Environmental Architecture Design Studio (1) 3 6 150 0 6 0 6
ARC214s Environmental Architecture Design Studio (2) 3 6 150 0 6 0 6
ARC312s Sustainable Architecture Design Studio (1) 3 6 150 0 6 0 6
ARC313s Sustainable Architecture Design Studio (2) 3 6 150 0 6 0 6
ARC133s Introduction to History and Theory of Arts and Architecture 3 4 100 3 0 0 3
ARC141s Architectural Representation 3 5 125 1 4 0 5
ARC142s Digital Presentation of The Built Environment 2 4 100 1 0 3 4
ARC241s Modeling of The Built Environment 2 5 125 1 0 3 4
ARC151s Building (1): Conventional Construction Systems 3 5 125 2 3 0 5
ARC152s Building (2): Finishing Works 3 5 125 2 3 0 5
ARC253s Building (3): Sustainable Construction 3 5 125 2 3 0 5
ARC351s Working Design (1): Execution Drawings Coordination, Annotating and Coding 3 6 150 1 4 0 5
ARC352s Working Design (2): Blow-Ups Detailing, Items Specifications and BOQs 3 6 150 1 4 0 5
ARC451s Working Design (3): Execution Documents Complexity 3 5 125 1 4 0 5
ARC261s Control of Thermal Environment 2 3 75 1 2 0 3
ARC262s Principles of Sustainable Architecture 3 5 125 2 2 0 4
ARC361s Lighting in Architecture 2 3 75 1 2 0 3
ARC362s Acoustics in Architecture 2 3 75 1 2 0 3
ARC363s Renewable Energy and Buildings 2 4 100 1 2 0 3
ARC365s Building Performance Simulation 3 5 125 1 4 0 5
ARC462s Sustainable Building Rating Systems 2 4 100 1 2 0 3
UPL212s Principles of Urban Design and Landscape 3 4 100 2 2 0 4
UPL313s Eco Urban Design 3 5 125 1 4 0 5
UPL412s Sustainable Contextual Architectural Design Studio 3 6 150 0 6 0 6
UPL221s History and Theory of Urbanism 3 4 100 2 2 0 4
UPL332s Sustainable Urban Development 3 4 100 2 3 0 5
UPL242s Sustainable Urban Landscape 3 5 125 1 4 0 5
UPL351s Housing Studies 3 4 100 1 4 0 5
UPL463s Environmental Impact Assessment 3 5 125 2 2 0 4
CEP113s Surveying 2 4 100 1 1 1 3
CES115s Structural Analysis for Architecture Engineering 2 4 100 1 2 0 3
CES226s Concrete Structures for Architectural Engineering 2 4 100 1 2 0 3
CES345s Steel Structures for Architectural Engineering 2 4 100 1 2 0 3
CEP251s Green Building Systems and Infrastructure 2 4 100 1 2 0 3
Environmental Architecture Elective A Course (1) 2 4 100 1 2 0 3
Environmental Architecture Elective A Course (2) 2 4 100 1 2 0 3
Environmental Architecture Elective B Course (3) 3 5 125 2 2 0 4
Environmental Architecture Elective B Course (4) 3 5 125 2 2 0 4
ARC494s Environmental Architecture Graduation Project (1) 2 4 100 1 2 0 3
ARC495s Environmental Architecture Graduation Project (2) 6 16 400 0 12 0 12
Total 170 321 8025 97 167 21 285
Environmental Architecture Elective A
ARC322s Architectural Criticism and Project Evaluation 2 4 100 1 2 0 3
ARC323s Built Environment Accessibility 2 4 100 1 2 0 3
ARC341s Photography and Architecture 2 4 100 1 2 0 3
ARC368s Soundscape and Aural Architecture 2 4 100 1 2 0 3
ARC425s Contemporary Vernacular Architecture 2 4 100 1 2 0 3
UPL371s Human Behavior and the Built Environment 2 4 100 1 2 0 3
UPL381s Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) 2 4 100 1 2 0 3
Environmental Architecture Elective B
ARC472s Maintenance of Buildings 3 5 125 2 2 0 4
ARC473s Building Life Cycle Assessment 3 5 125 2 2 0 4
UPL424s Selected Topics in Architecture and Urbanism 3 5 125 2 2 0 4
UPL435s Urban and Architectural Heritage 3 5 125 2 2 0 4
UPL436s Urban Renewal 3 5 125 2 2 0 4
UPL464s Environmental Planning 3 5 125 2 2 0 4
UPL472s People and Environment 3 5 125 2 2 0 4
Total 170 321 8025 97 167 21 285

Program Study Plan

Code Course Title Credits and SWL Contact Hours Prerequisites
CH ECTS SWL Lec Tut Lab TT
Semester 1
PHM012 Mathematics (1) 3 5 125 3 2 0 5
PHM021 Vibration and Waves 3 5 125 3 1 1 5
PHM031 Statics 3 5 125 2 2 1 5
MDP011s Engineering Drawing 3 6 150 1 3 2 6
PHM041 Engineering Chemistry 3 5 125 2 1 2 5
CSE031s Computing in Engineering 2 4 100 2 0 0 2
Total 17 30 750 13 9 6 28
Semester 2
PHM013 Mathematics (2) 3 5 125 3 2 0 5 ( PHM012 )
PHM022 Electricity and Magnetism 3 5 125 3 1 1 5
PHM032 Dynamics 3 5 125 2 2 1 5 ( PHM031 )
CEP011s Projection and Engineering Graphics 3 6 150 1 3 2 6
MDP081s Production Engineering 3 5 125 2 0 3 5
ENG011s Fundamentals of Engineering 2 4 100 2 1 0 3
Total 17 30 750 13 9 7 29
Semester 3
ARC111s Principles of Architecture Design Studio 3 6 150 1 5 0 6 ( CEP011s )
ARC133s Introduction to History and Theory of Arts and Architecture 3 4 100 3 0 0 3
ARC141s Architectural Representation 3 5 125 1 4 0 5 ( CEP011s )
ARC151s Building (1): Conventional Construction Systems 3 5 125 2 3 0 5 ( CEP011s )
CES115s Structural Analysis for Architecture Engineering 2 4 100 1 2 0 3 ( PHM031s )
CES151s Structures and Properties of Construction Materials 2 4 100 2 1 1 4 ( PHM031s )
Asu Elective B Course 2 2 50 2 0 0 2
Total 18 30 750 12 15 1 28
Semester 4
ARC113s Vernacular Architecture Design Studio  3 6 150 0 6 0 6 ( ARC111s )
ARC142s Digital Presentation of The Built Environment 2 4 100 1 0 3 4
ARC152s Building (2): Finishing Works 3 5 125 2 3 0 5 ( ARC151s )
ARC261s Control of Thermal Environment 2 3 75 1 2 0 3
UPL221s History and Theory of Urbanism 3 4 100 2 2 0 4
CEP113s Surveying 2 4 100 1 1 1 3
ASU112s Report Writing & Communication skills 3 4 100 2 2 0 4
Total 18 30 750 9 16 4 29
Semester 5
ARC213s Environmental Architecture Design Studio (1) 3 6 150 0 6 0 6 ( ARC111s )
ARC241s Modeling of The Built Environment 2 5 125 1 0 3 4 ( ARC142s )
ARC253s Building (3): Sustainable Construction 3 5 125 2 3 0 5 ( ARC152s )
UPL212s Principles of Urban Design and Landscape 3 4 100 2 2 0 4
CES226s Concrete Structures for Architectural Engineering 2 4 100 1 2 0 3 ( CES115s )
PHM111 Probability and Statistics 2 4 100 2 2 0 4 ( PHM013 )
ASU114s Selected Topics in Contemporary Issues 2 2 50 2 0 0 2
Total 17 30 750 10 15 3 28
Semester 6
ARC214s Environmental Architecture Design Studio (2) 3 6 150 0 6 0 6 ( ARC213s )
ARC262s Principles of Sustainable Architecture 3 5 125 2 2 0 4
ARC361s Lighting in Architecture 2 3 75 1 2 0 3
ARC362s Acoustics in Architecture 2 3 75 1 2 0 3 ( PHM021s )
ARC363s Renewable Energy and Buildings 2 4 100 1 2 0 3
UPL242s Sustainable Urban Landscape 3 5 125 1 4 0 5 ( UPL212s )
CEP251s Green Building Systems and Infrastructure 2 4 100 1 2 0 3
Total 17 30 750 7 20 0 27
Semester 7
ARC312s Sustainable Architecture Design Studio (1) 3 6 150 0 6 0 6 ( ARC214s )
ARC351s Working Design (1): Execution Drawings Coordination, Annotating and Coding 3 6 150 1 4 0 5 ( ARC152s ) AND ( CES225s)
UPL332s Sustainable Urban Development 3 4 100 2 3 0 5 ( UPL221s )
UPL351s Housing Studies 3 4 100 1 4 0 5 ( UPL221s )
CES345s Steel Structures for Architectural Engineering 2 4 100 1 2 0 3 ( CES115s )
ARC371s Architecture Project Management 2 4 100 2 1 0 3
Asu Elective A Course 2 3 75 2 1 0 3
Total 18 31 775 9 21 0 30
Semester 8
ARC313s Sustainable Architecture Design Studio (2) 3 6 150 0 6 0 6 ( ARC312s )
ARC352s Working Design (2): Blow-Ups Detailing, Items Specifications and BOQs 3 6 150 1 4 0 5 ( ARC351s )
ARC365s Building Performance Simulation 3 5 125 1 4 0 5 ( ARC241s )
UPL313s Eco Urban Design 3 5 125 1 4 0 5 ( UPL212s )
Environmental Architecture Elective A Course (1) 2 4 100 1 2 0 3
ASU113s Professional Ethics and Legislations 3 4 100 2 2 0 4
Total 17 30 750 6 22 0 28
Semester 9
ARC451s Working Design (3): Execution Documents Complexity 3 5 125 1 4 0 5 ( ARC352s )
ARC462s Sustainable Building Rating Systems 2 4 100 1 2 0 3
UPL412s Sustainable Contextual Architectural Design Studio 3 6 150 0 6 0 6 ( ARC313s )
UPL463s Environmental Impact Assessment 3 5 125 2 2 0 4
ARC494s Environmental Architecture Graduation Project (1) 2 4 100 1 2 0 3 ( ASU112s )
ARC495s Environmental Architecture Graduation Project (2) 6 16 400 0 12 0 12 ( ARC494s )
Environmental Architecture Elective A Course (2) 2 4 100 1 2 0 3
ASU111s Human Rights 2 2 50 2 1 0 3
ARC463s Renewable Energy Systems and Economics 2 4 100 1 2 0 3
Environmental Architecture Elective B Course (3) 3 5 125 2 2 0 4
Environmental Architecture Elective B Course (4) 3 5 125 2 2 0 4
Total 31 60 1500 13 37 0 50