Architects, civil engineers, geoscientists, landscape architects, environmental planners and ecologists, sociologists, and urban and regional planners research and work at the Faculty of Planning, Building, and Environment. As a result, the Faculty enjoys an outstanding international profile in planning, building, and spatial sciences. Working together, its members conduct research on the global challenges of urbanization and resource depletion, climate change and adaptation, and digitalization and innovation of planning and building and offer innovative contributions to these challenges. Faculty VI’s key competences lie in both basic and applied inter- and transdisciplinary research in these fields, the development of planning-related and technical solutions, and the integration of these solutions in society.
The study programs offered by the Faculty are characterized by a high degree of interdisciplinarity, focus on research, and strong practical application. The Faculty's teaching priority lies in preparing students to responsibly develop innovative solutions for the human habitat and its environment using a sustainable approach conscious of resource scarcity. Recognizing that cities, landscapes, and the environment presently find themselves in a period of radical change is necessary for the introduction and application of new technologies and processes. In this respect, the Faculty also contributes to communicating the opportunities, challenges and risks of the 21st century and lays the foundation for socio-ecological innovations in "Urban and Environmental Systems". Cooperation with numerous international research partners allows students, staff, and researchers to acquire interesting experiences throughout the world, whether through research projects, semesters abroad, dual-degree programs or an internship. Among the Faculty’s honorary doctors are the architect Oswald M. Ungers, economist Lord Nicholas Stern, architectural theorist and designer of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews located in Berlin, Peter D. Eisenman, and climate researcher Hans-Joachim Schellnhuber.
Josefine Gottschalk, student of the Environmental Planning master's program, is awarded the annual BUND Research Award for Sustainability 2022 for her master's thesis "Scratching Below Surface. Is the Maritime Spatial Planning of the European Union ready for Adequate Marine Conservation?".
The next meeting of the Faculty Council will take place on Wednesday, September 14, 2022 at 13:00 pm.