Arkitektskolen Aarhus

The University

From the first day at the Aarhus School of Architecture they really made an attempt to really welcome all the guest students and make sure that we felt comfortable. There is a mentoring program run by students, where you get paired up with a student from the school as a ‘buddy’. They hold different events throughout your stay at the school such as the welcome dinner and trips to museums. It was a great way to get to know other students that are in the same position as I was.

The classes here are the opposite of how things work at UTS. There are not many lectures and there is only one design studio that you are allocated to. For each studio everyone gets their own desk where you work at Monday to Friday and approximately 9am to 5pm. It was a shock at first, getting used to a completely new way of working, but I have really benefitted from a studio 9-5 culture where work is more hands on and a lot more social.

My studio site was based in Paris with a theme of habitation in relation to the city scale. This meant that our whole studio did an 8-day excursion to Paris, with a 3-day architecture tour as well as analysis of our sites. It was a fantastic opportunity to actually study in Paris and see a whole different architecture.

Travelling

Since I’ve never been to Europe previously, I took this as an opportunity to explore all the places that I’ve never seen. So far I have been to Switzerland, Venice, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Budapest and Paris. It is very easy to plan quick trips away.

Living in Aarhus

I’m living in student accommodation arranged through the school called Borglum Kolliget. I get a decent sized room with a bathroom and wardrobe, fully furnished. I know of similar places around Aarhus that may not come furnished, so make sure you know what you are getting! The common living, dining and kitchen I share with 12 other Danish and international students has been a great way to get to know a lot more people out side of the university. Since the first day everyone was willing to help out with any questions or worries that I had, and very welcoming. As I have been travelling around Europe during exchange, I was always relieved to come back to Denmark, it really does feel like a second home.

Megan Ryan (11741586)