Architecture is to building as poetry is to language…

Firmness… commodity… delight… with these words the Roman architect Vitruvius codifies for all time the fundamental concerns of architecture. While architecture must always seek firmness of structure and commodity of function, Vitruvius deliberately leaves the best for last…

Delight expresses the ambition of cultural significance that designers, clientele and society collectively desire for the built environment. When we marvel at great works of architecture and design, it is because these works tell a story about the ambitions and values of other generations and other peoples.

So Vitruvius tells us the ultimate responsibility of the designer is to achieve this poetic expression through the act of fabricating the built environment, in the same way the poet achieves it through the act of writing. Like your colleagues in the other fine arts, as a designer you have the ability, and the responsibility, to continue the evolution of the human story. The School of Architecture at Philadelphia University is committed to challenge you to achieve this.

We are a bold, young and innovative program dedicated to providing a wide range of opportunities within this profoundly exciting discipline. Whether through architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, sustainable design or the many related theoretical or pragmatic activities that can be investigated through architectural studies, with us you can explore and discover your place in the world of architecture.