Abstract:

Architecture as a profession is continually evolving in order to meet the needs of a rapidly changing and increasingly borderless world created by the phenomenon of globalization. Architectural education, the gateway to the profession of architecture, is similarly affected. In this regard, international accreditation and validation of architectural education becomes important. This review paper examines the international accreditation and validation platforms in architectural education with particular reference to the Canberra Accord as they relate to the Nigerian context. The paper is of the view that the Canberra Accord holds a lot of prospects for architectural education in Nigeria in the areas of curriculum benchmarking, standardization and borderless education and practice. The implications of the above with respect to internal re-engineering of architectural education and national accreditation processes are similarly examined.

Keywords:

Accreditation, Architectural education, Canberra Accord, Globalization, Nigeria, Validation.