On this page, you will find some recommendations on what to watch, read, listen and do to engage with your subject. As well as feeding your intellectual curiosity, these links may provide useful material for your UCAS statement. Once you have engaged with the links, make sure that you practise putting your thoughts into words with the writing activity at the end.
Watch
Why the Buildings of the Future Will be Shaped by You
A Day in the Life of an Architect
How to Make an Attractive City
Read
The Best Architects of All Time Ranked
Snapping Point: Architecture and Instagram
Five Cities Where Planning Went Right
Listen
Reaching for the Sky: Skyscrapers
Design Matters Podcast: Michael Arad
The Moral Maze: Nimbyism and High-Speed Rail
Do
- Visit Amazing Buildings In Person – For getting an appreciation of amazing architecture and planning, nothing beats going to see it with your own eyes. There are lots of ways you can do this, but we would recommend Open House in London, where many of the city’s most famous buildings are opened to the public.
- View Amazing Buildings Online – Using Google Voyager, you can see high quality images of amazing architecture from across the world, all made easy for you to browse. For example, it includes a section on buildings designed by Frank Gehry, one of the world’s most famous architects.
- Go to a Architecture and Design Museum – There are lots of museums across the UK that focus on architecture and design, including the Museum of Architecture, the Museum of Bath Architecture and the V&A Museum.
Write
- To apply to university, you need to demonstrate that you are well informed about the subject and have a strong interest in studying it at greater depth. To get started, practice writing about your subject interests by composing short responses to the following questions:
- What have you watched, read or listened to that has inspired you?
- Why was it interesting?
- What new issues did you learn about?
- What do you want to find out next?
- What excites you about the subject?
- Why do you think studying the subject is important?