Department: School of Design & Architecture

Brief information about the School of Design & Architecture at ADA University

The School of Design and Architecture (SDA) is outlined in collaboration with the Politecnico di Milano in the framework of the Italy-Azerbaijan University initiative. It will offer bachelor's, master's and non-degree certificate programs in Design, Architecture and Urban Planning. ADA University is intertwined with the country’s plans, where economic and cultural growth lead the way. The urban areas are growing, and the country landscape and profile are evolving. 

The School of Design and Architecture will share the polytechnic approach to Design, Architecture, and Urban Planning. Graduates will gain foundational disciplinary knowledge and practical experience, thanks to fundamental courses and the learning-by-doing educational approach that pursues up-to-date development lines in project-based design studios. The School of Design and Architecture offers an international level of study suitable for entering the job market as a junior architect or designer. 

More information about SDA can be found at www.ada.edu.az/en/schools/sda

Why apply for this position

The School of Design and Architecture is the place for constant education and innovation, where students will develop the knowledge and skills to contribute to the country’s goal. Indeed, the School of Design and Architecture will raise a new generation of Designers, Architects, and Urban Planners who will participate in the country’s progress, sharing and making the vision for it.  

For this purpose, the School of Design and Architecture will collaborate with public institutions to promote coordinated efforts toward progress, indicating priorities, developing projects, and anticipating future scenarios. Furthermore, the School of Design and Architecture will collaborate with local communities to promote the country’s development beyond Baku and with global partners to reach a multicultural environment and international status. 

Due to this ambitious program, joining SDA will be an opportunity for academic growth and engagement within a new international community of designers and architects.

Brief description of responsibilities:  

Principal responsibilities include teaching undergraduate courses in Architecture. Candidates must have a potential or demonstrated commitment to teaching excellence, scholarly research and publication in peer-reviewed journals, and academic engagement.    

Qualifications:

• Candidates for Assistant Professor must have a Ph.D. in Urban Planning
• Candidates for Associate Professor must have a Ph.D. and evidence of quality scholarship.

How to apply:

Please, send to the e-mail address in the Apply for job button the following documents in the PDF format by August 1, 2025, 10 PM Baku time (GMT+4). 

• Cover letter (max 1 page)
• Curriculum vitae
• Portfolio of personal work
• Portfolio of selected students’ works (if available)
• Summary of teaching evaluations (if available)
• A list of publications and a PDF of a maximum of three of them

Women and members of minority groups are strongly urged to apply.

Teaching Position Details in Representation

Programme: Bachelor of Urban Planning

Year: 1st

Courses: Representation of Built Environment and Open Space / GIS Production and Representation: Methods and Tools

Description of the Disciplinary Area:

The disciplinary area of ‘Representation’ enables students to learn and master the tools for the representation of the urban-territorial analysis and project, with a formative programme that includes the fundamentals of representation for urban planning, concerning both the built environment and the open spaces. Besides technical drawing based on traditional techniques, in-depth study of representation for planning and for communication of urban projects includes also methods of processing and restitution of digital data in territorial information systems and in related cartographic works. The main teaching tool is frontal teaching, accompanied by exercises and/or drills. The assessment of knowledge typically takes place through oral and written examinations, as well as through applicative exercises. The acquired tools are applied and verified in terms of the ability to use them in the operational activities which are envisaged within the specific courses of the first and the second semesters. However, they are crucial basis for conducting the analytical and design exercises which are envisaged within the core learnings provided by the six semestral Studios characterizing the Educational Programme.

Description of the courses

1. Representation of Built Environment and Open Space 

Semester: First 

Start dates: February 2026 (teaching starts September 2026)

The course aims to provide students with basic but complete knowledge and skills to critically identify, interpret, and represent the structural components of urban and regional shapes and relations in order to support and set up broader territorial analyses and following phases of spatial planning and design. Accordingly, the course presents graphical methods and techniques, and iconic and symbolic codes for the territorial representation to apply to the critical analyses of urban and regional phenomena, dynamics, cartography, and masterplans through the development of orthogonal and axonometric projections, schemes and diagrams, thematic maps, plans and sections, perspective and photographic views, and physical and virtual models. Specifically, the course – that is made by lessons related to literature and case studies and by exercises, introducing students to both manual and digital drawings – aims to contribute to: (i) recognize the structural components of urban and regional areas, considering the physical and intangible characteristics of the built environment and the open spaces; (ii) understand how such elements can interplay the broader territorial analyses and the following phases of spatial planning and design; (iii) interpret such elements by distinguishing the direct and indirect strengths and weaknesses of urban and regional phenomena and dynamics, and the connected opportunities and threatens for urban and regional planning; (iv) develop and express the results of spatial reading and interpreting processes with technical and effective drawings at the multiple spatial scales of cities and regions; (v) apply the methods of spatial representation to the critical analyses of urban and regional phenomena, dynamics, cartography, and masterplans.

Basic knowledge required to teach the course:

• Strong understanding of foundations, theoretical principles, technical lexicon, and methodologies concerning technical and digital representation of the built environment and open spaces.
• Familiarity with foundations, theoretical principles, technical lexicon, and methodologies concerning urban and regional planning and design.
• Knowledge of analytical and instrumental tools used in processes of urban and regional planning and design.
• Ability in teaching foundational theories, methods, techniques, tools, codes and practices concerning the representation of the built environment and the open spaces by mixing lectures with specific exercises applied to territorial surveys.
• Expertise in guiding students in the implementation of the assigned exercises by improving their skills in technical drawings at the intersection between traditional and digital representations.

1. GIS Production and Representation: Methods and Tools

Semester: Second

Start dates: October 2026 (teaching starts January 2027)

In continuity with the course of Representation of Built Environment and Open Spaces, this course aims to complete the training of the students to the methods, techniques, and tools of urban and regional representation with more advanced and specific knowledge and skills in the digital environment of the Geographic Information Systems (GISs). Through lessons, the course introduces the history of GIS technologies, their organization and functioning, the characteristics of their data, their connected services, their application to spatial representations, and the processes for their implementation. According to these aspects, lessons are integrated by exercises in which students experiment with the collection of available GIS databases, with the collection of data through tracking technologies and applications provided by electronic positioning systems (GPSs), with the application of collected data to the representation of urban and regional analysis related to urban fabrics and open spaces in GIS environments (as ESRI ArcGIS and opensource QGIS), and with the design of a GIS platform, from the preliminary analyses to the prototype model. On one hand, the course provides skills for the comprehension of and the experimentation with the innovative role of information and communication technologies to the improvement of spatial analysis, interpretation, and understanding of the complexity of urban and regional phenomena, by integrating static data related to the physical components of cities and regions with dynamic data related to their multiple and changing uses in different times. On the other, it offers a first exploration of the opportunities provided by GISs for the advancement of spatial planning and design.

Basic knowledge required to teach the course:

• Strong understanding of foundations, theoretical principles, technical lexicon, and methodologies concerning technical and digital representation of the built environment and open spaces.
• Familiarity with foundations, theoretical principles, technical lexicon, and methodologies concerning urban and regional planning and design.
• Knowledge of analytical and instrumental tools used in processes of urban and regional planning and design.
• Ability in teaching the organization of GISs, by explaining their models, their computing and management infrastructures, and their data articulation between descriptive and geometric/spatial components.
• Ability in teaching the collection of GIS data through multiple sources of information (as geodetic networks, electronic positioning systems (GPSs), sensors, platforms, extraction of geometric and thematic information from remote sensing images, digital photogrammetry).
• Ability in teaching the publication of geodata on the Internet, considering multiple software, available infrastructures, international rules, and system interoperability. 
• Expertise in guiding students in the implementation of the exercises targeted to the exploration of services connected to GISs (including cartography, urban and land cadaster, spatial planning and design, public mobility management, logistic companies, and navigation systems). 
• Expertise in guiding students in the implementation of exercises targeted to the application of GISs to urban and regional representations.
• Expertise in guiding students in the implementation of exercises targeted to the development of GISs (including preliminary analysis of possible alternatives, design of components, and strategies of implementation).

Teaching Position Details in Representation and Topography

Programme: Bachelor of Architecture

Year: 2nd

Course: Digital Representation

Description of the Disciplinary Area:

It constitutes a multifaceted and interdisciplinary endeavour that draws upon a wide array of knowledge from various subject areas. This comprehensive integration of knowledge is imparted to aspiring designers through theoretical lectures and laboratory-based teaching methods. The goal is to bridge the gap between theoretical understanding and practical application in the realm of design.

The foundation of the design process lies in the analysis phase, particularly during the concept definition phase. Here, designers utilise the acquired knowledge to frame the problematic context and identify design opportunities, constraints, possibilities, and priorities. This critical phase involves delving into the intricate interplay of factors that influence design decisions.

Description of the course

1. Digital Representation 

Semester: First 

Start dates: February 2026 (teaching starts September 2026)

In line with the UNESCO Chart recommendations and the disciplinary foundations of architectural Drawing, the Digi Skills program for the Bachelor aims at providing appropriate digital operational basics in the field of architectural 3D modelling, including the nexus with parametric and BIM modelling, as well as at encouraging the digital fluency necessary to support the architectural design processes and routines, mainly focusing on 3D data input, management, and prototyping. 

The course-specific aims, in order to connect the various applications in a unitary process, will consist of modelling, visualizing and prototyping a test scene consisting of a small pavilion with furniture located in its narrow urban context (i.e., a small urban space between two building fronts), created from various source files, georeferenced, and developed in its parts with appropriate accuracy levels, in line with the expected workload. A list of topics like 3D modelling, data acquisition and management, and prototyping are the main educational inputs at the base of the operational process proposed.

Basic knowledge required to teach the course:

• BIM Software Proficiency - Proven knowledge and experience in using BIM software such as Autodesk Revit and Graphisoft ArchiCAD (familiarity with other BIM software and tools is also appreciated).
• 3D Modelling Software: Experience in using modelling software such as SketchUp, 3ds Max, Rhinoceros (basic knowledge of Grasshopper is a plus).
• 3D Visualisation Platforms: Familiarity with web-based platforms used for 3D visualisation.
• Skills in data acquisition and their use in modelling, such as point clouds or mesh models produced by photogrammetric survey, etc.
• Standards and Norms in 3D Modelling: Ability to explain standards related to 3D geometry and information modelling, including Level of Information Need (LOIN) and other internationally recognized representation levels in accordance with ISO 19650.