Architectural education and the concept of competences

Throughout history, architectural education has been subjected to many changes in relation to the historical transformations in the structuring of the social relations that architectural practices are a part of. The training of architects, which used to take place in the field within a master-apprentice method were carried over to universities, which started to become the dominating context where knowledge production and education was carried out, following the seventeenth century. The changing knowledge, skills and competences of the Higher Education System from the establishment of the universities to the present have also affected the professional competences in architecture and the competence sets gained in architectural education. This study mainly focuses on researching into how the relationship between universities, as the place where knowledge production and education is carried out, and professional practice of architecture, both in its practical and discursive formations developed mutually in their historical context. In this general context, the research question is specifically dwelling on the set of "expectations" that are formulated within the architectural professional practice as they address the educational practices in universities and on the evolution of such expectations through history towards their contemporary forms. Moreover, the relationship between the current set of concepts that define the general fields of higher education and vocational equipment and the field of architectural education has been investigated.