Christian Buddenbohm about BA Architecture

Our BA Architecture student Christian is talking about studying at Berlin International and answering the most frequently asked questions to students of BI! 

The BA Architecture program provides students with the skills and specialized knowledge to develop and apply creative and responsible solutions in the field of architecture. The program is firmly grounded in the vibrant city of Berlin but taught exclusively in English. It is designed to help students understand their role and responsibility as architects in any given physical and cultural context – on either a local or a global level. 

“I’m Christian and I’m a first-semester architecture student. The reason I chose architecture is because the built environment always had a big impact on my life. I think it’s a very creative job that can make a difference so that’s what I really like about it. 

My best experience so far at Berlin International is the contact with other students. I love seeing just how everyone settles down, everyone improves and connections form and friendships form. I think that’s a very prominent thing at BI because everyone’s just so close together. 

My plan was always to be able to worldwide so I needed to study in English and it’s actually quite rare to find universities that offer bachelor programs in English. I found BI and immediately thought that it was a good fit because I’m from Germany and it’s not too far from my hometown. The opportunities are great if you just start the bachelor's in English, you can work wherever you want afterwards. 

Since I’m studying for a very creative job, it’s important to have a wide background and a wide horizon. And because everyone has such a different background at BI, it’s really enriching to work together, to have the collective creativity from very different people and also to form relationships with one another.  

Another thing is the cultural openness that you learn during your studies. It’s working together with people that have very different backgrounds and that might talk differently to you. It’s very important to be culturally open, which is also the case in real life later on. 

Berlin, in general, I would describe as a very neighborly, friendly city that feels smaller than it actually is. It’s actually easy to settle down and to find places so it’s a great city for students. 

My plans are to work in a multicultural environment, probably outside of Germany. BI prepares a lot of that multicultural knowledge. Just being able to work with different kinds of people and having experience in multicultural working, I think is a big advantage for that. 

For prospective students, I would give advice to use multicultural environments and really get involved with people. For example, I was able to get a translation from a friend who speaks Russian and I had a Russian floor plan of a building which I didn’t understand. Those are just the kinds of things that you can do, that you couldn’t do in other places. 

I’d also recommend being motivated to bring motivation because I feel like nine out of ten people want to do more than what’s needed or more than the average. It’s a very inspiring environment where you actually have incentives to do more than just the minimum.”

Thank you for taking the time to read our article about studying at Berlin International. If you are interested in studying architecture in Berlin, take a look at our BA Architecture program. 

Feel free to reach out to our Admissions Team at any time via application@berlin-international.de.