HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL

Architecture has been taught in Toulouse since 1751, first by the Royal Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, the only provincial art academy to benefit from royal patronage, until its dissolution on 8 August 1793 by decree of the convention, then by the School of Fine Arts and Industrial Sciences in 1827, followed by the National and Special School of Fine Arts in 1883. Since its creation, it has been characterised by its evolving teaching programme, which aims to be as complete as possible, inspired by existing teaching methods as well as some real innovations. At the end of the 1960s, the Architectural Education Units were created: the architecture section of the Toulouse School of Fine Arts, transferred in 1970 to the Le Mirail district, became the Architectural Education Unit of Toulouse.

The first research department was created there in the early 80s. A scientific council was formed in 1988. The research department of Toulouse School of Architecture became the host team for the TESC (Times, Spaces, Societies, Cultures) Doctoral School in 2007 and, in 2008, was turned into the Architectural Research Laboratory (LRA).
In 2011, Toulouse School of Architecture became an associate institution of the TESC "Times, Spaces, Societies, Cultures" doctoral school. It thus officially awards the Doctorate in Architecture jointly with Toulouse Jean Jaurès University. In 2015, the Architectural Research Laboratory became the host team for the "Mechanics, Energetics, Civil Engineering and Processes" (MEGeP) doctoral school.The Architectural Research Laboratory of Toulouse School of Architecture became the first laboratory of an architectural school to be awarded "Host team" ("Équipe d'accueil") certification by the Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research in 2016.

From 1968 onwards, the school advocated the forming of closer ties between architectural education and academia. The influence of Georges Candilis, who was designing the Le Mirail district at the time, and the theories of Team Ten played a major role in this new multidisciplinary approach to architecture. The architecture of the Toulouse School of Architecture building, located in Le Mirail and also designed by Georges Candilis in the same period, was a response to this ethos of open education.

Designed as an organic, proliferating system, the school is a combination of filled and empty units (patios), built following a concrete structural grid on a square
lattice and a pattern of diagonal lines.

AERIAL VIEW OF THE 1988 EXTENSION BUILDING