Director of Studies
Sub-Director of Studies
None
We strongly encourage Architecture applicants to study Mathematics or Physics at A-level or IB Higher Level (Analysis and Approaches). Art also provides a strong foundation for some aspects of the course.
All applicants invited to interview are required to undertake a sketching assignment assessing graphic and spatial ability, lasting 30 minutes. The assessment does not require any preparation in a specific topic. More information can be found here.
All applicants are required to submit a portfolio and sketchbooks of their own original recent artistic work. We want to see a range of subject matter that illustrates your personal interests, experience, imagination and ability in the visual and material arts; it does not have to be 'architectural'. We are keen to see your informal and preparatory work, as well as more formal work, so we can better understand how you observe the world around you and how you test and develop ideas. We strongly encourage including drawings from life. We do not want to see professional architectural work (such as plans and sections). Original drawings and paintings usually form the basis of portfolios, but work can be in any media; large physical models and sculptures can be shown in a series of photographs. You will need to submit a 6-page PDF sample of your artwork prior to your interview.
St John's teaching academics specialise in Architecture, Design and History of Art, together with a Research Fellow in Architecture/History. This offers our students unrivalled support across the Tripos, both academically and creatively.
We admit more Architecture students than most other colleges, meaning you'll benefit from a strong culture of peer-to-peer support and camaraderie.
St John’s is a living laboratory of architecture, with courts and buildings from the 16th century to today: students live in the historic contexts that their lectures and seminars address. This picture showcases the 21st-century Buttery addition to the 17th-century wing of Third Court.
Our student-led Architecture Society reflects the commitment and engagement of St John’s architecture community, with an active programme of talks, socials and events.
Sir Hugh Casson studied architecture at St John’s, before achieving prominence as Director of Architecture for the 1951 Festival of Britain at just 38. His ferocious energy, creative ability and determination did more than anything to guarantee the huge success of this exciting postwar vision of the future for British science, industry and the arts.
Watch this video to hear more about Architecture at St John’s.
Being an architect at St John’s requires a creative mindset as well as strong academic and artistic ability. Architecture’s disciplinary breadth spans engineering to aesthetics, ecological design to the economics of construction, so we seek candidates who embody a broad-ranging engagement with their studies and with their architectural interests. We appreciate candidates who excel in both the sciences and humanities, equally nimble in technical problem-solving and essayistic writing.
The basis for any competitive application to Architecture is a solid grounding in Mathematics and/or Physics.
Applicants stand out when they demonstrate engagement with the societal, cultural and political dimensions of architecture. Who decides what to build, and why? Have you followed the news or attended a local planning committee meeting to understand more about how sometimes contradictory values are weighed up in a building project – say, when beauty and tradition conflict with sustainability goals?
In your application, tell us how and why you engage with the built environment and the ideas or hypotheses you have reached through doing so. This might be:
What argument from recent reading helped you see cities differently? What has walking taught you about the structure of urban environments? What kind of interiors were presented in the paintings you saw at a recent gallery visit, and how did you interpret them in light of the exhibition’s key themes?
Ensure the portfolio and sketchbook work that you submit with your application fully illustrates your ability to think spatially and to observe the world around you. You don't need to present architectural work (floorplans, scale models and so on), but a rich range of observational drawing will strengthen your application significantly. Get into a habit of studying the local countryside, urban spaces and human habitation through sketching and painting. A messy suite of sketches drawn in situ is often more enlightening than a carefully drawn replica of a photograph.
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