Patrik Schumacher has hit out at architecture education, accusing schools of being disconnected from the real world and claiming that many teachers use their positions to promote their own agendas.
As a result of architecture schools teaching "without any curriculum", students graduate with a portfolio that "might not include a single design that could meet minimal standards expected from a contemporary competition entry".
Schumacher, the principal of Zaha Hadid Architects, made the criticisms in a Facebook post entitled "13 theses on the crisis of architectural academia".
In his post he criticised architecture for being taught like art and for schools not teaching students the skills needed by architectural practices. "Architecture schools operate like art schools without any curriculum," said Schumacher. "Accordingly architectural education is detached from the profession and from societal realities & needs as expressed in real (public or private) client briefs."
"Too many teachers without professional work"
According to Schumacher, part of the problem is that too many architectural educators do not have sufficient experience working as architects. He believes that those teaching are using the schools for their own purposes instead.
"Too many teachers without professional work or experience use design studios in schools of architecture as vehicles for their own, largely isolated, pursuits," he st...