University of Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning

'The first course in Architecture was offered in 1884 as an elective course in the third year of the Bachelor of Engineering degree however the Senate only approved the establishment of a School of Architecture after much discussion in 1916. The reason the approval at this time was a result of pressure from the Institute of Architects who pointed out that, among other reasons, many students were obliged to seek education in this discipline outside the country and whom prompted the Senate to commission a report from the Faculty of Science as to the feasibility of this proposal. The Faculty of Science reported back in October 1916 with estimates for the annual costs of academic staff for the School and incidentals costs such as for maintenance and that the Minister of Public Instruction had assured a deputation from the Institute of Architects they would cover the cost of a new building to house the School as well as providing a statutory sum for the Chair. The Senate accepted this and, at their December meeting, appointed a committee to look into and report on the establishment of a Chair of Architecture.

Leslie Wilkinson was appointed to the Chair in early 1918. He arrived in Sydney in August 1918 and quickly set about drafting the by-laws to regulate the curriculum in the School of Architecture and in 1920 the School was given faculty status with Wilkinson elected Dean.

In 1948 the Department of Town and Country Planning was established within the faculty.

Following a restructure within the Faculty of Architecture the former Departments of the Faculty were replaced by a single School effective 1 January 2002. [see Senate Res 134/02 re constitution of the faculty following the Academic Board Report of 13/3/2020].

On 4 December 2006 Senate renamed the Faculty of Architecture as the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning. [Resolution 373/06]

As part of the University's strategic planning 2016-2020, Senate decided in December 2015 to reduce the number of faculties from 16 to six, with three additional schools reporting directly to the Provost to come into effect 1 January 2017.  The Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning became one of these schools. On 12 December 2016 Senate adopted the University Of Sydney (Governance of Faculties and University Schools) Rule 2016 which under 2.3 (f) established The University of Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning.    

New committee structure requirements for faculty and University schools came into effect from 1 January 2021. On 6 November 2020, Senate approved amendments to the Governance of Faculties and University Schools Rule 2016 (‘GOFUS’) enabling the creation of a consistent faculty/University school committee structure. Under this new rule from 2021, faculties and University schools were required to have the following five core committees:

•    Research Committee

•    Research Education Committee

•    Education Committee

•    Indigenous Strategy and Services Committee, and

•    Work Health and Safety Committee.

If required, faculties and University schools were able to establish up to three optional faculty layer committees to meet local requirements, and could also establish sub-committees reporting to the core committees. [Staff News, 9 December 2020]