In 1955, Mustafa Resit Tarakçioglu, Trabzon MP in the TGNA, and some of his friends put forward a proposal of law about establishing a university in Trabzon under the name of “Karadeniz Teknik Üniversitesi”, which, as well as scientific production, would be the research centre and laboratory of the large region that it would serve In the meeting of the TGNA on 20 May 1955, this proposal was passed as the number 6594 Law for the establishment of Karadeniz Technical University .

With low no 336 passed on 19 September 1963, KTU was appointed a rector and the necessary staff was appointed to faculties. In this way, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Civil Engineering–Architecture, Faculty of Mechanical–Electrical Engineering and Faculty of Forestry were established.

8.5 years after its foundation, Karadeniz Technical University started its education in a primary school building in Masatlik area on 2 December 1963; later on it moved into a secondary school building built nearby; and finally, it moved to its present location in Bostanci village in 1967.

The first students of the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture attended a joint program carried out by the Faculty of Basic Sciences with the support of Faculty of Sciences of Istanbul University. With the employment of necessary technical personnel in 1965, students chose either the Department of Civil Engineering or Department of Architecture, and they became the first graduates of Karadeniz Technical University in 1967-1968 educational year. They graduated as “high engineer” or “high engineer-architect”.

From the very beginning of its foundation, teaching staff from other universities contributed to the education in the Department of Architecture. They have worked as diploma jury members and taught various lessons such as architectural design theories, building sciences, carrier systems, urban sciences, and evaluation of historical environments, etc. Soon after its foundation, the Department of Architecture employed its own graduates as its teaching staff, and Department of Architecture thank those who contributed to and worked in the faculty .

In 1963-1973 period, when low no 4936 was in effect, the educational period was 5 years; however, with law no 1750, the Law of Universities which passed in 1973, the educational period was reduced to 4 years. The Department of Architecture started 4-year education in 1977-1978 educational year. The Department of Architecture produced its first graduates in 1968, and up to now the department have produced about 2000 architecture to serve the country. These graduates had different positions in different institutions and obtained awards both at national and international level.

The three faculties, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Faculty of Mechanical and Electronical Engineering and Faculty of Earth Sciences, which had been founded in 1963, were collected under Faculty of Engineering and Architecture with Law number 2547 for Higher Education dated 4 November 1981 and with government decision number 41 dated 20 July 1982. With the decision number 9127 of Boards of Ministers dated 04 July 2005, the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture was abolished and re-formed as two faculties as Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Architecture. From this date on, the Department of Architecture has been running under Faculty of Architecture.

The Department of Architecture offers a 4-year education with the aim of producing information about human-building-environment relations and of using this information through design, organization, application and counseling activities. According to the related regulations, the graduates of the department are given a diploma of “ARCHITECTURE”.

Our department has been offering undergraduate and doctoral programs since 1963, and masters program since since 1982.

Our department is on the main Kanuni campus, and the department utilizes all the physical and social benefits offered by the campus structure and life. It has an architectural laboratory and a computer laboratory, which have multipurpose uses.

The teaching staff in our department has done a lot of important work such as scientific studies, research, projects, applications, and national and international publications. They have obtained awards from various institutions and architectural project contests.

In the past, the department published ARCHITECTURE BULLETIN which consisted of scientific and academic essays in the disciplines of architectural domain and in architectural education; Studies on Architecture and Economy, and Design and Human Sciences were compiled and published as a book. As a result of collective studies carried out every year, a symposium on Architecture and Technology was organized (at national level) after the symposiums on Design and Human Sciences and on Architecture and Economy.

Today , our department is organizing the international Livenarch Congress (Livable Environments & Architecture International Congress), which was first held in 2001 and which is held once in every two years. In addition, republication of Architecture Bulletin in the near future is on the agenda.