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Department of Architecture, Faculty of Technology, University of Guyana

Georgetown, Guyana (South America)

The University of Guyana was established in 1963, beginning with a first batch of 164 students. Originally a part-time institution, with classes held at Queen's College - the foremost Secondary Schools for boys - the University is now a full-time tertiary education institution with its own premises (opened in 1969) some eight kilometers from the centre of the country's capital, Georgetown. The University is governed by a 23-member University Council, of which the Chairman is the Chancellor and which has representatives from local agencies (private and public sector) and overseas higher education institutions.

The University currently has seven faculties - Agriculture, Arts, Education, Health Science, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences and Technology - and an Institute of Distance and Continuing Education. The student population stands at about 3625 (1996/97) and academic staff totals 225. The University offers Bachelor degrees in various disciplines/studies, a small number of Master's degrees in limited subject areas, and both undergraduate and postgraduate certificates and diplomas.

The centralized University Library provides a variety of resources supporting and extending the University's teaching and research. Its stock is made up of an estimated 705,000 items of book and non-book material and a collection of more than 1777 periodical titles. The Library is a legal depository as designated by the laws of Guyana and is also a partial depository for the United Nations and several of that body's agencies. The Library is particularly proud of its Caribbean Research Library, which contains original historical materials and rare books, and materials in a variety of languages and covering all areas of interest to Guyana and the Caribbean.

In keeping with the requirements of the Computer Age, the University is steadily improving faculty and students' access to computers beginning with the 20 workstations available at the Computer Centre, at its opening in 1992. Many Faculties have now added some form of computer activity in their teaching and have access to computers other than those at the Computer Centre. In the same building as the Computer Centre, is the Learning Resource Centre for the conduct of audio-visual teaching and personalized learning through audio-visual means. The Learning Resource Centre provides an E-mail service to staff members through the Caribbean Universities Network (CUNET) which is linked to the Internet. It is the expectation that the University will become an Internet Service Provider in the near future.

Department of Architecture, Faculty of Technology

Established in 1969 as the Technical Studies Division, the Faculty of Technology is the second largest faculty in terms of student population, and comprises four departments and four divisions. The Department of Architecture, in which the CARIBCAD Project is located, is one of the original departments in the faculty and its establishment was at the request of the Guyana Society of Architects. Originally offering a two-year Higher Technical Diploma (HTD) in Architectural & Building Technology, the department introduced a first degree programme in 1975, becoming the first institution in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to grant degrees in Architecture.

The Architecture degree programme at the University of Guyana is of five years duration, including a year in an architectural practice before the student can enter the final year of the programme. The four-year academic programme itself is two-tiered - the first two years leading to an undergraduate diploma (Diploma in Technology) which is the entry (a minimum Grade Point Average of 2.0) to the final two years. The degree - B.Sc.(Arch) - is broad-based, making it suitable for entry into the disciplines of Architecture, Urban Planning, and Social Housing.

In 1995, the Department of Architecture was awarded a research grant by UNESCO to research and record a selection of the major historic buildings and sites in Guyana, and to establish a research centre in the department to continue this work after the cessation of the grant. Under its Principal Researcher, Mr. Lennox J Hernandez, Senior Lecturer, the Centre for Architectural Heritage Research & Documentation (CAHRD) successfully carried out its mandate, and is continuing to research and document our architectural heritage. Some of its work is included in a recent (1997) publication entitled Historical Georgetown, Guyana. Also, some of its pictorial studies have been used in an exhibition on Guyana's Architectural Heritage, mounted by the National Trust.

Other information

Principal Officers

CARIBCAD Project Contact

[email protected]