The focus of the teaching is on design. The particularly spacious facilities of the FB15 building mean that it is open round the clock to enable student work to be carried out there as much as possible (in self-managed work rooms) and so with direct communication. The facilities are rounded off by an in-house IT department with its own print workshop, a professionally managed modelling workshop that is accessible to students, and an extensive library. Practice-related projects (e.g. planning and construction of innovative solar homes) are conducted on a regular basis.

The international focus is still being developed. Efforts are under way to extend the BSc programme to eight semesters with a one-year foreign study programme on request (Bachelor +) in addition to the existing individual options. The department has been successfully involved in international student competitions for many years (e.g. Solar Decathlon, Designing Resilience competition Singapore).

Lichtwiese Printing Centre; IT unit computer pool; Student workshop; RoboLAB; 3D print workshop; IT workstations

Inter-disciplinary Research; Building with paper; EnEff Campus Lichtwiese; Emerging Cities; Architectures of organising; CCSA – Research collaboration with Goethe University Frankfurt and DAM Deutsches Architekturmuseum FFM. Graduate school KRITIS – Critical Infrastructures. Design Research Build: Implementation of various projects, including Cubity. Urban Health Games: Urban design for health promotion; Mobility design; UrbanSCOPE. Digital Design: Computer-based design and digital fabrication/robotics; Prefabricated Components 2.0. Support for junior academics: Centre for Architecture and Urban Research; Research Day

‘HIGHEST’ – the TU Darmstadt innovation and start-up centre located at TUDa – offers excellent support for founders of start-ups.

The building is open 24/7/365 and is a kind of "home" for the students. This very much helps students identify with their studies. Everything is very close and personal, because the entire administration of services, including advice services etc. are all in the same building. Most of the students and teaching staff know each other personally.