The School of Architecture was established with the founding of Mapua Institute of Technology on January 20, 1925. It was pioneered by Don Tomas Mapua, who finished architecture at the Cornell University, USA and was the first registered architect in the Philippines. It started as a night school in Carriedo Street in Manila. Later on it moved to R. Hidalgo and then to Rizal Avenue also in Manila. In 1951, Mapua acquired a piece of property from La Compania Franciscana within the walls of Intramuros.

In 1953, the school relocated to the newly built J. Mapua Memorial Hall in the Intramuros campus. With the addition of new engineering programs, the South and North Buildings were built. In 1961, the School of Architecture transferred to its present location at the South Building.

The Industrial Design program was established in 1976 in anticipation of the need for the formal training of a new type of professional to service the country's growing industrial design requirements.

The School of Architecture and Industrial Design has a population of over a thousand students. Its has an intake of about 240 freshmen yearly.

Two new programs are currently under study for the school. The first is Bachelor of Science in Project Construction Management. This program combines business entrepreneurship with construction technology and management, a specialization that is evolving into a distinct profession.

The second program under study is Bachelor of Science in Interior Architecture Design, a field of specialization that has become a distinct discipline worlwide.

These two programs are expected to complemented the existing programs in Architecture and Industrial Design and offer more career opportunities for thousands of students who take our entrance examination every year.

Our current programs offer a learning experience that is geared towards professional practice. Their curricula and the syllabi of various courses are periodically updated by an academic panel for instruction coordination. Recently, the curriculum of architecture was restructured to rationalize the flow and interconnection of courses. Major amendments were made in the industrial design program in order to reposition its graduates toward global competition. Computer enabled  courses were increased from two to eight; making it perhaps, the most electronically advanced industrial design program in the country today.

Amendments to our current programs take effect starting the first quarter of academic year 2003-2004 which started last July.