From the early 1990s when the interest on the internationalization of architectural education started, through the beginning of 5 year college education in the 2000s until now, Korea’s architectural education has accomplished an enormous quantitative growth and success. However, despite the efforts of a number of professors and experts, our college education is still in the swamp of confusion. Expanding the scope of discussion on architectural education at Korea, I would like to introduce in detail the efforts underway at School of Architecture, Yeungnam University.
On the other side of the quantitative growth in Korean college education, variety of factors such as the exuberancy of construction market in 1990s, accreditation system of engineering education, 5-year architectural education and accreditation system of architectural education in 2000s have existed. However, architectural education of Korea simultaneously confronts with the decrease of school school age population and the shrinking of construction industry. Although these problems are the results of contemporary changes which architectural education itself can’t control, they are not the problems that could not be expected at all. There have been much consistent concerns on the excessive number of students and separation of majors through many discussions from Architectural Institute of Architectural. However, such concerns was unable to get enough attention under the competition of quantitative expansion and any effective alternatives are difficult to be secured. Instead, the colleges implemented to meet the facilities and personnel and to supplement the curriculum for accreditation systems.
Architectural education of Yeungnam University was established on the basis of co-existence of majors, but the sharing assignment of each major with identity was the premise in the process of reorganization. All members of School of Architecture agreed that the most essential requirements for the development was to enhance the social status of architect as a professional and to set the ultimate goal of architectural education as cultivating talented architects who have international competitiveness. Therefore, the maximum manpower and resources were put into the fiveyear architecture program, while architectural engineering major took the part of engineering and technology with decreased number of students and the new architectural design major took the part of environmental design in a coordinated way. The setting of this educational direction was and experimental approach in contrast to the aspects of other colleges who had competitive relationship between architecture and architectural engineering majors.
I think that the integrated recruitment and diversification of major of Yeungnam University have a great implication on the future of architectural education in Korea. Architectural education in this direction can be an alternative for the separation of 5-year architecture and architectural engineering education, and there are already some minority colleges to be embodied in a variety of ways. Korea’s college education is facing the challenge of the times you need to adjust the number of students due to a decrease of college-age population, and the field of education tjat is abnormally enlarged also became a key target of these adjustments. Integrated recruitment and diversification of majors may unify the segmented related majors in college into a new format and can be overcome, and can be an effective alternative to overcome the current problems.