Embedding the SDGs in Architectural Education: Curriculum Mapping of Sustainability and Transformation in an Undergraduate Program at a Foundation University in Istanbul

This study addresses a persistent gap in architectural education research. Although sustainability and digital transformation have been widely discussed, relatively few studies have examined how these agendas are embedded across the full formal structure of an undergraduate curriculum, rather than being explored through isolated courses or individual studio interventions. In response to this gap, the article investigates how sustainability and higher education transformation are incorporated into an undergraduate architecture curriculum through program learning outcomes, course learning outcomes, course content, and teaching methods. The case examined is an undergraduate architecture program at a foundation university in Istanbul, Türkiye. Adopting a document-based single-case design, the study employs a multi-layered analytical framework that brings together curriculum mapping, directed qualitative content analysis, intensity coding, and SDG alignment across program outcomes, course outcomes, course content, and teaching methods. The analysis is organized around six thematic areas: climate action and environmental performance, disaster resilience and safety, digital and technological transformation, governance, law, and ethics, inclusivity and user well-being, and lifelong learning and professional adaptability. These thematic areas are then aligned with the relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At the program level, 19 of the 38 program learning outcomes were found to align directly with sustainability and transformation, indicating the presence of a clear institutional core rather than a merely symbolic or fragmented commitment. The strongest concentrations appear in climate action, environmental performance, disaster resilience, digital representation and BIM-based coordination, accessibility, and ethics; however, these strengths are distributed unevenly across the curriculum. The study concludes that future reform should focus on horizontally integrating this existing SDG-oriented core through stronger curricular sequencing, closer connections between studios and assessment, and more pedagogically diverse forms of delivery.