Academic architectural education started with the inauguration of the Académie d'Architecture on 3 December 1671 in France. It was the first institution to be devoted solely to the study of architecture, and its school was the first dedicated to the explicit training of architectural students. The Académie was abolished in 1793, during the revolutionary turmoil that besieged France at the end of the eighteenth century, although the architectural educational tradition that arose from it was resurrected with the formation of the École des Beaux-Arts and prevails in the ideologies and activities of schools of architecture throughout the world today.

This book traces the previously neglected history of the Académie’s development and its enduring influence on subsequent architectural schools throughout the following centuries to the present day. Providing a valuable context for current discussions in architectural education, The Rise of Academic Architectural Education is a useful resource for students and researchers interested in the history and theory of art and architecture.