The PhD in Architecture and Construction of the City has as its scientific objective the progress of studies in the various fields of the construction of architecture and the city as well as the formation of studios that are able to operate in the various levels of scientific research, from theoretical elaboration to the operational application of the knowledge achieved. It is characterized and specified within the school of Architectural Sciences of which it is part, as it collects and selects different disciplines providing a third level education articulated by the different disciplinary fields.
The relationship between architecture and construction posed since the foundation of the DRACo PhD in 2005, is declined as a complex problem closely linked to the permanent themes and the most urgent ones posed by the Italian and international architectural culture. The careful observation of the national and international situation and the different experiences gained during the previous cycles have outlined the main areas of study, identifiable in the relationship between architecture and construction of the city. In an era in which globalization has reduced the possibilities of differences and has limited the declinations of local identities, it is necessary to continue to question the reasons for building in an active and critical comparison with the changing reality. The scope of research is defined through the permanent traits of Italian architectural and urban culture and the relationships that this has always had with other traditions of international studies, in a continuous process of renewal and updating. The general objective of the research conducted in the Doctorate in Architecture and Construction of the City is therefore to maintain as a reference the "line of resistance" of the architectural culture of our country, within our specific History, whose fields of application can diversify as a consequence of the most urgent issues that come from local and/or international realities. In this operational context, the architectural project, a synthetic expression of the different knowledge that contribute to defining the Doctorate in Architecture and Construction of the City, assumes a decisive importance both with regard to the tools and techniques, and with regard to the advancement of scientific knowledge. The PhD in Architecture and Construction of the City is divided into three different curricula: Architecture and Construction (A), Architecture and City (B), Estimation and Evaluation (C), whose educational objective is to provide innovative skills and advanced tools useful for research in the relevant scientific disciplinary fields. The three curricula and the reference teachers work interactively with each other, within common and shared seminars in which the individual disciplines contribute to the best achievement of the objectives. The research addresses issues related to the city, contexts and architecture, reformulating in an innovative way the theoretical-operational paradigms of built reality, building types and urban form understood as a visible aspect of a continuously transforming structure. The in-depth analysis of the selected and addressed themes will be carried out in reference to a general problematic framework in which environmental emergencies, recent urban mutations, scientific and technical innovations linked to the most pressing demands for sustainability in the context of climate change converge, but also the role of the media with the related spectacularization processes that greatly influence the orientations of architectural and urban transformations. Currently, the scientific sectors that collaborate within the curricula are the following: CEAR-09/A; CEAR-09/C; CEAR-03/C; CEAR-08/B; CEAR-08/C; CEAR-11/B; CEAR-12/B. This composition is aimed on the one hand at providing plural skills; on the other at operating a dialogue oriented towards the renewal of individual knowledge through a constructive and projective dialectical procedure.
In this sense, the scientific community is stable in the different knowledge that identifies it - the disciplinary sectors of affiliation of the college with different proportions are: CEAR-09/A; CEAR-09/C of composition and interiors; CEAR-03/C of appraisal, these two sectors are the sectors that founded the doctorate; but it is also open and dialogic, over time CEAR-08/B; CEAR-08/C; CEAR-11/B; CEAR-12/B; are added, which renew the debate on the potential of their specific knowledge. Research is therefore divided into theoretical and applied, in which theoretical experimentation is accompanied by case studies, or elaborations in which the virtuous reciprocity between model and application in real fields is assumed.
Teaching in the doctorate is organized separately in the three years of the course and is concentrated in three moments of intensive teaching during the year, which are added to the courses of the first and second year.
In the first year, the doctoral students follow two seminars: one theoretical and one design-based, two cycles of lessons held by the professors of the college on topics established from year to year, finally, ex cathedra lessons by professors from other national and international research centers. The doctoral students participate in conferences, external seminars and calls for papers asking the faculty board to verify the program. At the end of the first year, the delivery and presentation of papers relating to all the activities carried out is expected. The second and third years are characterized by reports of the progress of the research that the doctoral students present to the entire faculty board: every year there are two/three, in February, in July, in December. The July report is also aimed at establishing the judgment regarding the admission of the doctoral students to the following year. Their involvement in research activities, workshops, seminars and lessons continues. The activity in other research centers in Italy or abroad with proven necessity with respect to one's research interests is encouraged and promoted. Finally, the production of individual and group publications is promoted, to encourage the construction, by each doctoral student, of an adequate scientific curriculum. Doctoral students must indicate, already at the time of the application for admission, which curriculum they intend to opt for. The passage from one curriculum to another during the doctoral course is not permitted except in exceptional cases and must be motivated and approved, following scientific reasons, by the Teaching Board.