The University of Arts Linz is creating its own Institute of Architecture at the beginning of 2026. On Monday, December 15, the University Council also gave the green light for this following corresponding resolutions by the Rectorate and the Senate.
The new Institute of Architecture at the University of Arts Linz will bring a strong accentuation to the field of study, which recorded its highest number of first-semester students to date in the winter semester with 58 new students. With studio basehabitat, studio raumkultur, studio städtebau and studio typologie , architecture at the University of Art and Design Linz offers four design studios and, with baukultur, konstruktion and überholz, three departments and six professorships for the more than 180 students. In addition to the BA and MA in architecture, prospective architects can also choose between the two postgraduate programs MA Architecture | basehabitat and MSc Culture Timber Architecture (überholz) can complete.
Planning and building with ecological and social responsibility is the approach of the current head of the institute, Sigi Atteneder, and his team of professors. The study area "basehabitat" and the postgraduate master's degree "überholz" in particular are dedicated to low-carbon construction with clay and wood as well as local materials and techniques and their specific applications. basehabitat is also part of the UNESCO Chair for Earthern Architectures, building cultures and sustainable development, which researches and promotes earth building.
Sigi Atteneder, Head of Architecture at the University of Arts Linz, comments: "As a separate institute, we are devoting ourselves even more intensively to the topics of the building transition and are strengthening cooperation in teaching, research and practice with municipalities, institutions, international experts and universities. At the same time, we continue to offer students intensive supervision and development opportunities for critical thinking, conceptual acuity and applied design."
Rector Brigitte Hütter on the creation of the new Institute of Architecture: " With its steadily increasing student numbers, architecture at the University of Art and Design Linz has a strong presence - not only throughout the city, it has also long enjoyed an excellent international reputation. Sustainability in all its facets, social responsibility, reflection and practical relevance characterize the work of architecture at the University of Art and Design Linz under the direction of Sigi Atteneder, so that future generations can design housing worth living in and also create diverse spaces for civil society."
In detail, the change in the organizational form at the University of Art and Design Linz corresponds to a division of the Institute of Space and Design, from which the Institute of Architecture and the Institute of Design will emerge - the latter will continue to include the departments of Design Research and Design Theory, Fashion & Technology, Industrial Design, Creative Robotics and raum&designstrategien. This institute will continue to be headed by Ute Ploier and her deputy Christiane Luible-Bär.