Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Architecture

Variant names

History notes:

The first architecture faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was William R. Ware, appointed in the fall of 1865 to plan the curriculum of the first architecture school in the United States. Funds were supplied partly by MIT and partly from private sources for William Ware to visit Europe to examine educational programs and purchase supplies; thus classes were not held until October 1868. The first student graduated with an architecture degree in 1873. Classes were held in the Rogers Building on Boylston Street in Boston, Massachusetts, but the department moved often as it grew and required more space. In 1883 the department moved into a new building on the corner of Boylston and Clarendon Streets. In 1892 the department moved agaid into a new Architecture building, designed by department head Francis Chandler. In 1898 the department moved again into the Pierce Building at Trinity Place. The department stayed in Boston in the Rogers Building when the rest of the Institute moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts in June 1916. In 1938, a new architecture building (building 7) opened on the Cambridge campus to house the department and the last of the Boston campus was sold.

An architecture summer school was held beginning in 1893 to bring students in contact with the practical side of building. The first summer school was held at the World's Fair in Chicago, subsequent trips were made to other parts of the United States and to Europe.

Beginning in 1922 a class in city planning was required for candidates of the Bachelor of Architecture degree. In 1932 the Institute authorized a five year course leading to the degree of Bachelor of Architecture in City Planning and in 1935 authorized the degree of Master in City Planning.

In 1932 the School of Architecture was established as part of the general academic reorganization of the Institute proposed by MIT president Karl T. Compton. The School consisted of the Department of Architecture and later the Department of City Planning (now Department of Urban Studies and Planning).

From the guide to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture curricula, 1866-1942, (Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute Archives and Special Collections)