Why Architectural Studies?
Architectural Studies explores how buildings, cities, and landscapes shape human experience. Through history, design, and visual analysis, you’ll develop the critical and spatial thinking skills to understand the built environment.
Architecture Through More Than One Lens
Trinity’s strengths in architectural history, studio art, urban studies, and engineering make this minor an interdisciplinary way to study architecture.
A Path You Can Shape
In consultation with faculty, students can tailor a course of study that emphasizes design or history and may include engineering science, physics, urban studies, environmental studies, or set design.
San Antonio as a Site of Study
San Antonio is one of the few U.S. cities where students can encounter major buildings from the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries in one place.
It’s a good fit for you if you:
- Are curious about how buildings, cities, and landscapes shape culture and everyday life
- Are drawn to architecture but also want an interdisciplinary liberal arts approach
- Want a minor that complements your work in other fields and can be tailored to your interests
The minor works well with majors in:
- Studio art
- Art history
- Urban studies
- Engineering science
- Environmental studies
What You'll Study
Coursework explores architectural history, visual representation, and urban environments while helping students understand how design reflects culture, technology, and society. Students learn to think about how buildings and cities take shape, change over time, and are influenced by design.
In Demand-Skills:
Strengthen the analytical and spatial thinking skills sought in architecture, urban planning, historic preservation, design, and related fields.
- Visual and spatial analysis
- Historical and contextual interpretation
- Creative problem-solving through representation
Comprehensive Curriculum
Students complete 24 credit hours through coursework in architectural history and visual and spatial representation, with opportunities to tailor the course of study toward design or history.
View minor requirements in the course catalog
Detailed course requirements, sequencing, and policies are outlined in the official Courses of Study Bulletin.
Recent Graduate Careers
A Trinity minor in Architectural Studies prepares students for impactful careers across industries, graduate programs, and research fields. Graduates combine strong analytical skills, interdisciplinary thinking, and real-world experience to pursue meaningful work.
Architecture and Design Pathways
Students interested in architecture and related design fields build a foundation in visual and spatial representation while studying how buildings are conceived, interpreted, and experienced. In consultation with faculty, students can shape coursework that supports applications to architecture and related graduate programs.
Historic Preservation and Cultural Stewardship
Because the minor asks students to study architecture across periods and places, it helps them understand how buildings carry cultural, historical, and civic meaning. In a city like San Antonio, that perspective is especially relevant for students interested in historic preservation and the long life of the built environment.
Architectural History and Research
Students who are drawn to historical analysis develop a deeper understanding of major works, movements, and questions in architectural history. That preparation can support future study and work in architectural history, design research, and other fields that depend on close visual analysis and strong historical interpretation.
Urban Planning and Landscape Thinking
Students also explore architecture at the scale of cities and urban life. With Trinity’s connections across urban studies, engineering science, and environmental studies, the minor can support students interested in urban planning, landscape architecture, and other fields that examine how people shape—and are shaped by—the spaces around them.
Get Your Questions Answered
Students interested in the Architectural Studies minor should:
Meet with the program director to discuss how the minor complements your major, explore course options, and review the course catalog to plan your path through the program.