Disrupting the built environment through business-focused architecture education

3 min read

The worlds of business and architecture intertwine and overlap in so many ways, but there’s a noticeable gap between the modern need for business-focused architectural education and what future architects are actually learning.

This was already being discussed as long ago as 2015, when more than half of employers surveyed felt that architecture graduates lacked the soft skills and entrepreneurial mindset the profession demands. This was happening even though students and employers both agreed—80% of employers and 75% of students—that architectural schools weren’t preparing students for the workplace.

The COVID-19 pandemic has completely disrupted our relationship with work, and to the physical spaces around us. It has meant new challenges for the architecture industry that Jerónimo van Schendel Erice will address at DISRUPT.

Answering a modern need

Jerónimo is the program director of the Master in Business for Architecture and Design, first MBArch where design meets business.

Jerónimo also cofounded Bildia, a cloud platform that streamlines procurement processes for the construction industry. In his presentation “The Entrepreneurial Designer: Why is Business Vision Crucial for Architects and Designers?” Jerónimo will discuss the current state of affairs in the architecture industry.

And he’ll explain how the master’s program he directs is a response to the chronic lack of business and management elements in traditional design and architecture education.

Revolutionizing the teaching of design and architecture

IE School of Architecture and Design aims to change the way architecture and design are taught. For ten years the school has created sector leaders and successful entrepreneurs by blending the teaching of industry technical skills with equally crucial business and management knowledge and capabilities. 

Students of the program learn to appreciate the overlap of business and architecture, gaining both the technical and soft skills to lead the sector into new territory.

Architecture and business go hand in hand, and making an impact in this sector in future will require an understanding of how value is created through people, spaces and ideas. IE School of Architecture and Design knows that, so their Master in Business for Architecture and Design produces young architects ready to create the spaces of tomorrow that will serve all those needs.

A DISRUPTive idea indeed.

An unmissable event

Like Jerónimo, all the speakers at DISRUPT are experts from top practices and institutions around the world. They have all left their mark on the built environment with projects from megastructures to exhibition spaces or thought leadership, and between them carry an unmatched breadth and depth of expertise.

If you want to learn about the business of architecture, whether it’s adding value through design and services, risk management, building equitable teams or business-focused architectural education, these are the people to learn from.

To find out more about DISRUPT, see who’s going to be speaking, or book tickets, visit the event’s website.