The establishment of the second Brno School of Architecture is linked to the post-revolutionary trend of founding specialized institutions for architecture alongside traditional architecture faculties within civil engineering faculties. This development was driven by high demand from talented but previously unsatisfied applicants and also by the attractive changes in tertiary education funding based on a “per capita” principle. This was one of the reasons why the Department of Architecture was founded at the Faculty of Civil Engineering at CTU in Prague (1991), the new Faculty of Architecture and Art at the Technical University of Liberec (1994), the Department of Architecture at the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (1996), the Department of Architecture at the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the VSB – Technical University of Ostrava (2003), and, as the youngest in this series, the Institute of Architecture was established at the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Brno University of Technology in 2005.

The new Brno-based institution for architecture education emerged thanks to the efforts of three deans. The first was the emeritus dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at Brno University of Technology, Doc. Ing. Ladislav Štěpánek, CSc., who was the first to propose the idea of founding an architecture school. The second was the emeritus dean of the Faculty of Architecture at Brno University of Technology, Prof. Ing. arch. Alois Nový, CSc., who developed the entire concept of the new institution’s education. Lastly, the then-dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at Brno University of Technology, Prof. RNDr. Ing. Petr Štěpánek, CSc., supported the initiators and allowed them freedom in shaping the teaching approach, study programs, and staffing. On September 26, in the winter semester of the academic year 2005–2006, the in-person teaching of the first forty students began.

The structured four-year bachelor’s program and the subsequent two-year master’s program are complemented by mandatory professional practice in architectural studios. The Institute of Architecture fully utilizes the extensive expertise of the large civil engineering faculty, which is reflected in the high-quality staffing of technical subjects and in the mandatory supervision of architectural design studios by leading architects and consultants from other faculty departments according to the focus of the studio. Students gain a thorough understanding of the implications of architectural design during the planning documentation phase. The four-year “Civil Engineering Architecture” program culminates in the preparation of a bachelor’s thesis, which develops previously drafted conceptual architectural studies into detailed construction and technical documentation. The subsequent master’s program, “Architecture and Settlement Development,” is offered in two specializations – Architecture or Spatial Planning. Students complete their studies at the Institute of Architecture under the annual guidance of an experienced academic staff member, where they work on a specialized studio project (pre-diploma project) and subsequently on their diploma thesis, after which they receive the title of “Architect Engineer.”

The Institute of Architecture is located in Building E2 within the historical Faculty of Civil Engineering building on Veveří Street. The core staff consists of 2 non-academic and 19 academic employees across eight studios based on specialization (residential buildings, public buildings, industrial buildings, monument restoration, interior and architectural space, urbanism, architectural detail, and fine arts) and the Theory and History of Architecture department. Studio teaching is further supported by a stable number of external staff from among practicing Brno architects.