National Classifiers of Specialties and Structures of Architectural Education: Russian-Anglo-American Comparisons

Abstract

Every educational system is based on classifiers that define the nomenclature of specialties and areas of training, levels, and stages of education, academic degrees awarded, etc. The article highlights a comparative analysis of Russian and English-language (USA, Canada, and Great Britain) documents regulating the structures of architectural education. It answers the questions of what areas of knowledge and practice architectural education belongs to, what is the general structure of specialties, how they are divided into levels and areas of training, how fully presented and logically arranged are the areas of spatial design.

The study shows that the Russian classifier of educational directions (OKSO) identifies four directions in the consolidated group "Architecture" (as compared to twenty in North America and Great Britain). It does not include landscape architecture, which finds itself in agriculture, and interior architecture. By levels of training (from undergraduate to postgraduate studies) individual directions are developed differently. In the official Russian regulations, spatial design education exists in a fragmented form and the logic of its structuring is inconsistent. The content of individual areas of training in the Russian OKSO is not specified. English-language regulations – classifiers of educational programs create much more favorable legislative and organizational contexts for architectural education, they cover quite fully all its aspects, are logically structured, and are brief but clear guidelines for the content of individual areas of education.