Teaching activities

The programme combines a range of fundamental and specialised courses, from Bachelor’s to Master’s level, aimed at training architects who are aware of heritage issues and capable of integrating contemporary architecture into historical contexts.

Bachelor’s degree: Theoretical and Conceptual Foundations

The courses lay the foundations for understanding heritage. The emphasis is on:

• Acquiring the concepts, doctrines and theories of heritage conservation and restoration;
• Studying the typologies and vocabularies of different types of heritage (civil, military, religious, industrial, urban, rural);
• Learning techniques for surveying existing structures;
• Raising awareness of the challenges involved in converting heritage buildings and sites for new uses.

Master’s degree: The Project at the Heart of Teaching

The courses are structured around the architecture project via the dedicated ‘Architecture & Heritage’ programme.

Teachers guide students towards an approach based on the integration of contemporary architecture into heritage environments in order to design contemporary urban and architectural projects with a view to sustainability.  The projects are based on a variety of historic sites and are carried out in urban, rural and/or landscape contexts.

In the Specialised Master’s Degree: Expertise in Conservation and Restoration

The department also plays a role in the inter-university Master’s Degree in Conservation and Restoration of Immovable Cultural Heritage ‘Paix Dieu’, organised in collaboration with the Walloon Heritage Agency (AWaP), covering the tools and methods for establishing restoration files, the challenges and constraints of heritage conversion, heritage assessment and stone-by-stone surveys of existing buildings.