Before delving into the subject of this paper, two guiding axioms must be acknowledged: "architecture is universal language" and "the future of architecture and its education lies in interdisciplinarity." Architecture has long been a medium through which humanity understood its origins, reflected on its present, and envisioned its future. Interdisciplinarity, meanwhile, relies on embracing a "common language," an endeavor that architecture schools worldwide claim to support. Yet, as Brett Steele (2005) aptly observed, “[...] most of today’s studio and tutorial routines have hardly changed since the time of Mies.” Consequently, interdisciplinary aspirations often remain rhetoric, with schools offering formulaic promises to "combine theory and practice" without actually challenging outdated norms.

If design studios fall short of realizing interdisciplinarity, significant change is necessary. Historically, transformations in architectural education have occurred through external and internal forces—political, economic, societal reforms, visionary educators, and avant-garde schools. These changes can be categorized as either [A] transformations (exogenous), when external factors introduce new methods, or [B] mutations (endogenous), when shifts emerge from within the discipline itself.

This paper examines one such exogenous transformation originating from seismic resilient structural engineering: the Seismic Design Competition (SDC). Organized annually by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) and its Student Leadership Council (SLC), the competition fosters collaboration between architecture and structural engineering students. Interdisciplinary teams must conceive and construct seismic-resilient multistory towers that are structurally sound, architecturally compelling, sustainable, cost-effective, and profitable for hypothetical clients. Admission is competitive, based on peer-reviewed proposals and deliverables, including a 1,5m tall balsa wood scale model subjected to shake table testing.

Now in its 21st edition, the SDC has taken place alongside EERI’s Conferences on Earthquake Engineering in cities across the United States and Canada. For students from the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca (TUCN) participation offers a rare chance to transcend the rigid boundaries of architecture and engineering curricula. This process touches on subjects such as cultural context, built environment and architectural heritage, architectural and engineering co-conception, interdisciplinarity, interoperability, communication on multiple levels, fundraising and coordination turning the competition into a transformative educational experience.

Over the past 8 editions of the SDC, the author has served as an architectural advisor to the TUCN team, helping shift the focus toward effective communication as a pathway to success. Classical pedagogical tools mixed with knowledge outsourced from the private sector helped students overcome curriculum shortcomings and enable real world and entrepreneurial skill development in an effort to brake barriers like second language speaking, public speaking, team work, coaching and so on. This strategy has led to multiple victories, including the prestigious Best Communication Skills Award on three occasions. By fostering collaboration, innovation, and interdisciplinarity, the SDC exemplifies how transformations driven by external fields can reshape architectural undergraduate education.

Keywords: Undergraduate, education, architecture, structural engineering, seismic, interdisciplinary.