The Department of Architectural Design is one of the oldest at Lviv Polytechnic National University. It is believed to date back to 1730, when a specialty in architecture was founded at Lviv National University. With the opening of a Technical Academy in Lviv, an architectural department became its structural part.
In 1877 the architectural department was already a part of a Polytechnic School and the division “Architecture I” was renamed into the Department of Architectural Design. At that time it was headed by Yulian Zakhariievych, then the rector of Lviv Polytechnic. The department held courses in general designing, architectural forms, aesthetics and railway construction.
In 1957 an enrollment for the architectural specialty was suspended due to the attempts of the Soviet education ideologists to concentrate architectural training in educational institutions of big cities. Owing to efforts of the Architectural public and personally the Head of the Department, prof. Ivan Bahenskyi, an enrollment of one academic group was restored in 1959.
1961 to 1971 the Department of Architectural Design was the only structural unit of Lviv Polytechnic Institute, which offered an architectural training in “Universal design” degree programme. In 1971 the Department withdraw from the faculty of Civil Engineering and a separate architectural faculty composed of 3 departments: “Architectural Design,” “Town planning” and “Drawing and Painting” was set up on its base.
Today the department has 45 faculty members. Dr. Sc., Prof. Mykola Habrel has been the Head of the Department Since 2012.
Heads of the Department:
- Prof. Ivan Bahenskyi (1931 to 1945);
- Dr. architecture, Prof. Andrii Rudnytskyi (1966 to 1971);
- Prof. Ihor Serediuk (1971 to 1977);
- Candidate of Architecture, Associate Prof. Pavlo Mariev (1977 to 1987, 1988 to 1998);
- Dr. architecture, Prof. Bohdan Cherkes (1987 to 1988);
- Candidate of Architecture, Associate Prof. Ihor Hnes (1998 to 2012).
- Dr. Sc., Prof. Mykola Habrel (2012 – present)