In 2020, the most expensive stadium in the world to date was unveiled in Los Angeles, California: the SoFi Stadium. Reportedly costing US$5.5 billion to build, the home to two American football teams — the Rams and the Chargers — is state-of-the-art and cutting-edge. As the world’s first indoor-outdoor stadium, it is 3.1 million-square-foot large with a capacity of about 70,000 to 100,000 seats. To the nation and the rest of the world, it’s a display of American football in all its glory.
To the residents of Inglewood, it’s suffocating. It was heavily protested for the displacement of low-income residents, with one-bedroom apartments shooting from US$1,100 in rent to US$1,750, increased policing, and unfair labour policies.
In the 21st century, such debates need not be this polarising. The best universities are leading the way in balancing architecture, engineering, and sustainability. With better materials and more advanced technology, we have the power to create a built environment that is as functional as it is beautiful. As with most things, positive change starts with education, and these three universities are the crème de la crème for architectural engineering.
At the BEEE, it’s all about building spaces that are good for people and the planet. Source: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
What if the buildings you design could help make the planet greener? Picture a world with vertical farms built into city skylines, transport systems powered by clean energy, and smart recycling across entire communities. At The Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE), this future is something you can help create. Its programmes combine science and engineering with advanced tools like artificial intelligence, Building Information Modelling (BIM), and more.
One example is the Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Building Sciences and Engineering programme, accredited by the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE). This means graduates qualify for Scheme A training with the HKIE in building services, fire, environmental, and energy divisions. Plus, thanks to recognition with the UK’s Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), your credentials are valued outside of Hong Kong, giving you a competitive edge wherever your career takes you.
The programme starts with you learning core engineering principles and by the end of your second semester, you can opt for a secondary major in either Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IE) or Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics (AIDA). In IE, you will understand how buildings work and learn to think like an entrepreneur to launch practical and affordable projects. If you’re more into tech and data, you’ll explore programming, statistics, AI, and machine learning that is tailored to building sciences and engineering with AIDA. Year Three gets more technical, focusing on building-services engineering systems. Then, in your final year, it all comes together with a capstone project where you’ll apply your skills to real-world challenges.
Other experiential learning opportunities are available as well. From summer placements to student exchange opportunities to the US, Europe, Australia, Russia, Southeast Asia, or Mainland China, the programme offers experiences that matter. And to support talented students, PolyU offers the Entry Scholarship for Non-Local Students with Other Qualifications. Recipients can receive a renewable full-tuition scholarship, an annual allowance of HK$50,000, and a one-time HK$30,000 exchange scholarship. Ready to design a smarter, greener future?
The Bartlett School of Architecture has been ranked #1 in the UK for architecture and the built environment for the 10th year in a row. Source: University College London/Facebook
University College London
From redesigning hospitals to control the spread of infections, to building interactive game spaces — the sky’s the limit when you’re a student at The Bartlett School of Architecture in University College London. As the #1 global university for architecture and built environment studies in 2025, The Bartlett has welcomed over 4,000 students from across the world to use their gained knowledge in architecture, urban design, planning, policy, and more to find bold solutions to most pressing issues faced by societies and the planet.
In the Master of Engineering (MEng) in Engineering and Architectural Design, students undertake four years of interdisciplinary learning in a fully accredited programme. It combines the design-studio model of The Bartlett with the expertise of world-class academics across two departments: the Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering and Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering.
The programme keeps pace with the industry, equipping students with holistic design, technical, and real-world skills to build successful careers in architecture. They complete 480 credit hours in a learning environment that’s primarily studio-based, coupling the state-of-the-art facilities of The Bartlett’s three locations with the city of London as a “living lab.” The first year is dedicated to 27–hour weeks of courses, decreases to 21 per week in the second and third as 1:1 tutorials increase, and dips down to 15 hours in the fourth, focusing on independent study.
And don’t worry — these courses aren’t going to haul you up in the studio 24/7. With the cosmopolitan city of London and its global community and rich history at your fingertips, the students have the opportunity to integrate your work with various societies and organisations to start enacting change today. They’ll experience site visits and field trips, including a visit to the UK Sustainably Centre in Year 1, and more European destinations ahead.
Click here to start building your future in architecture from the ground up.
The UIUC School of Architecture is the first ever public school in the field to grace the US. Source: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign/Facebook
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
If there’s one word that properly defines the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, it’s trailblazing. Its roots date back to 1867, being the first public school of architecture in the US, and home to first man and woman architectural graduates in the nation. Over 150 years later, the architects of UIUC would evolve the city of Chicago into the dynamic hub it is today — and they’re continuing to design for a better tomorrow.
Continuing to run the School of Architecture on its trailblazing path is a joint degree programme between the Master of Architecture (M.Arch) and Master of Science in Civil Engineering (MSCE), where students choose from one of two focus areas — Structural Engineering or Construction Engineering and Management. Students in this joint degree programme will build a stronghold of theoretical and technical competencies to solve the world’s most urgent problems in architectural design, enriched by the infrastructural expertise gained through the MSCE.
The latest design technologies, cutting-edge research, and real-world opportunities await you at the UIUC School of Architecture. Graduate students spend plenty of their time in cutting-edge studios at the Temple Hoyne Buell Hall, with access to other facilities like fabrication shops, the Ricker Library of Architecture and Art, state-of-the-art print labs, and more. Taking the lead are world-renowned faculty across four programme areas: urbanism, building performance, health and well-being, and digital fabrication. Students aren’t confined to campus grounds too, with opportunities to travel and explore the worlds of Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
Check out the School of Architecture at UIUC today.
*Some of the institutions featured in this article are commercial partners of Study International
