AR includes a common syllabus plus an Architecture or Planning option. The common section covers design, environment, urban design and town planning; the optional syllabi then diverge.

Architecture and Planning is tested within a 100-mark paper. The paper also includes General Aptitude. The sections below show the complete subject syllabus.

GATE AR Syllabus and Marks Distribution

Choose one of the two optional sections during the examination. The common section remains compulsory. The two options do not have separate ranks and qualifying marks; they are choices within the same test paper.

Architecture and Planning Unit-wise Syllabus

Common - Design and Graphics

• Architectural Graphics; Visual composition in 2D and 3D; Form; Surface development; Anthropometrics; Ergonomics, Ratio and proportion, Scales in design, Organization of space; Plans, elevations, and sections of buildings; Circulation- horizontal and vertical; Universal design; Building bye-laws; Codes and standards, Barrier-free environment; Engineering curves; Orthographic and Isometric projection; One-point and two- point perspectives; Light, shade and shadow;

Common - Environmental Planning and Landscape

• Natural and man-made ecosystem; Environmental, ecological, and sustainability principles; Environmental pollution- types, causes, controls and abatement strategies; Sustainable development goals and strategies; Climate change and built environment; Urban ecosystem approach; Ecological footprint and carrying capacity; Resource management; Life cycle analysis; Principles of circular economy; Environmental Impact Assessment; Carbon footprint; Carbon credits; Urban Heat Islands; Sustainable site planning; Contour and slope analysis; Landscape planning and design; Landscape suitability analysis; Plant characteristics and planting designs; Landscape conservation - principles and techniques; Social forestry; Historical gardens;

Common - Urban Design and Conservation

• Historical and modern examples of urban design; Elements of urban built environment - urban form, spaces, structure, pattern, fabric, texture, grain; Theories, principles, tools and techniques of urban design; Precincts, character, spatial qualities; Placemaking ; Form-based code; Urban design interventions for sustainable development and transportation; Development controls - FAR, densities and building byelaws; Urban renewal and conservation; Heritage conservation; Historical and contemporary public spaces;

Common - Town Planning, Housing and Real Estate Development

• Principles and concepts of town planning; Traditional and modern planned cities in India and abroad; Housing typologies; Concepts of housing need, demand, supply and shortage; Neighbourhood design; Residential densities; Affordable and incremental housing; Slums, squatters and informal housing; Standards for housing and community facilities; Housing for special areas and needs; Real estate valuation; Real estate feasibility studies and market analysis; Real Estate locational decisions and economic analysis; Project phasing and construction phasing;

Architecture option - History and Theory of Architecture

• World History of Architecture: Egyptian, Greco-Roman classical period, Byzantine, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque-Rococo; Recent trends in Contemporary Architecture: Art nouveau, Art Deco, Eclecticism, International styles, Postmodernism, Deconstruction in architecture; Influence of Modern art and Design in Architecture; Indian Architecture; Oriental Architecture; Works of renowned national and international architects; Principles of art, design and Architecture;

Architecture option - Climatology and Environmentally Responsive Design

• Climatic factors and classification; Solar architecture; Micro and macro climatic considerations in design; Thermal comfort in built environments; Passive design principles and concepts; Building energy audit and management; Embodied and operational energy; Building energy performance simulation and evaluation; Alternate and renewable sources of energy for buildings; Building Performance Rating
• systems; Kinetic architecture; Sustainable building technologies;

Architecture option - Building Construction, Materials, and Structural Systems

• Building construction techniques, methods and details: foundation, plinth, masonry, bonds, fenestrations, arches, scaffolding, formwork, timber/RCC/Steel frame construction, roof and roof covering; Lightweight construction; Fire protection; Flooring systems; Principles of Modular Coordination; Prefabricated construction; Building materials characteristics & applications; Different types of building materials for walls, floor, roof, finishes, repair and retrofitting, acoustic & insulation materials, damp prevention; Alternative building materials; Building structural systems; Elastic and Limit State design; Structural systems; Design with steel and RCC; Principles of Prestressing; High Rise and Shell structures; Gravity and lateral load resisting systems; Space frames; Long span structures; Suspension structures; Catenary structures; Wind load & seismic considerations in high-rise structures; Disaster resistant structures; Temporary structures for rehabilitation;

Architecture option - Building Services

• Natural and mechanical ventilation; HVAC design principles; Air-Conditioning systems; Water supply and distribution system; Water harvesting systems; Water treatment, recycling and reuse; Storm water drainage; Sewage and waste disposal; Sanitary fittings and fixtures; Plumbing systems; Drainage system; Principles of electrification and illumination and special lighting for buildings; Acoustics in buildings; Vertical transport systems- standards and uses; Building automation systems; Firefighting Systems; Building Safety and Security systems; Building Management Systems; Services for specialised buildings like Hospitals, Indoor Sports Stadiums & High-rise buildings;

Architecture option - Computer Applications in Architecture

• Fundamental principles of computational methods; Logic-based understanding of pattern recognition, simulation, and data analytics; Computer applications in building design and performance analysis; Architectural visualization: 3d Modelling and BIM, Rendering, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality; Computational design: parametric design, shape grammar and generative design; Visual communication; User Interface and User Experience Design; Digital design and fabrication methods: CNC mining and 3d printing; Artificial Intelligence for architecture.

Architecture option - Project Management and Professional Practice

• Construction planning and equipment; Construction project management techniques e.g. PERT, CPM; Professional practice and ethics; Estimation, costing and specification; Tendering; Arbitration; Role of Council of Architecture; Architecture journalism; Industrial architecture; Human Sociology; Building Economics; Interior design;

Planning option - Planning History, Theory and Techniques

• Origins of the city; Pre-industrial cities; Post-industrial cities; Garden City, City Beautiful, Broadacre, Radial City, Linear City; Concepts and theories of urban planning; Ekistics; Urban sociology; Theories of urban geography; Regional delineation; Settlement hierarchy; Urban growth models; Industrial location theories; Contemporary planning ideas and trends: Eco City, Smart City; Network Cities, Global Cities etc.; Global North and South perspectives; Land use and land cover classification; Types, tools, and techniques of surveys; Sampling techniques; Demography - definition and variables; Techniques of population projections; Estimation and forecasting techniques in planning; Socio-economic analysis; Goal formulation and scenario analysis; Planning indicators, norms, and standards; Public perception and user behaviour;

Planning option - Planning Policy and Practice

• Concepts, factors and trends of urbanization; International charters and mandates for planning; Constitutional and legal provision for planning; Planning as a state subject; Policies and programs for planning in India; Types and hierarchy of plans; Development norms, standards and guidelines such as URDPFI; Eminent
• domain; Land pooling and readjustment; Land acquisition; Laws governing land; Institutions of urban governance; Composition and functions of local self-governments and statutory institutions; Urban reforms and good governance; Participatory planning and use of technology; Municipal information systems, land information systems, cadastral systems;

Planning option - Infrastructure, Services and Utilities

• Water supply demand; Sources of water and intakes; Groundwater yield and recharge; Service Reservoir and Pumps; Water distribution system layout and network design; Water treatment; Water quality and testing; Water sensitive urban planning; Off-site and on-site sanitation; Decentralized sewerage system; Water carriage systems; Sewage quantity; Sewerage layout and network design; Sewer section and sewer design; Sewer appurtenances; Waste water treatment; Sewage disposal; Surface water runoff estimate, Discharge from streams and rivers; Flood protection measures; Layout and design of storm water drains; Rain water harvesting;
• Solid waste management: collection, storage, transportation and disposal; Waste composition and characteristics; Recycling and Reuse of solid waste; Processing and treatment of solid wastes; Area requirements and location choice criteria for different facilities and infrastructure; Standards, rules and Codes; Fundamentals of power transmission & distribution; Transformers, Feeders, Substation;

Planning option - Urban Land Use and Transportation

• Land Use-Transport-Urban form interaction; Urban structures and land use pattern; Economics concepts of land, rent, land use and land values; Land value capture; Transit Oriented Development, Urban regeneration and brown field redevelopment; Real estate pricing; Accessibility measures; Residence and employment location choice; Aggregate and disaggregate transport demand models and forecasting; Traffic and travel demand management and control in urban areas; Process and principles of traffic engineering; Design of roads, intersections, grade separators and parking areas; Hierarchy of roads and level of service; Modes of transportation; Pedestrian and non-motorized transport planning; Traffic survey methods, Traffic flow Analysis; Transport infrastructure and allied facilities planning; Intelligent transportation systems;

Planning option - Data Analysis, Remote Sensing and Geo-informatics

• Types of data and sources of data for planning; Descriptive statistics; Tests of normality; Inferential statistics: linear and multiple regression, testing of hypothesis, testing of error, ANOVA etc.; Decision Problem Structuring: Analytical Hierarchical Process, Multi-Criteria Analysis etc.; Basic concepts in satellite remote sensing, satellites, sensors, and coverage; Principles of digital image processing; Satellite data products and their use; Aerial photography; Principles of photogrammetry; Application of remote sensing in urban and regional studies; G.l.S applications in planning; Georeferencing; Storage of spatial data; Processing tools; 2d(spatial), 3d(elevation) and 4d(temporal) data analysis and modeling; Database management systems; Structured query Language; Spatial queries; Application of Machine Learning in urban planning; Smart city loT applications; Python basics; Urban Analytics; Spatial Data Infrastructure;

Planning option - Project Implementation and Financing

• Reforms in municipal finance; Municipal tax administration; Municipal budgeting; Fiscal indicators for finance; Municipal bonds/debentures; Loans and credit rating; Recovery mechanisms and pricing of services and infrastructure; Partnership approaches and types of contracts; Financial Viability & cost- benefit analysis; Project implementation, monitoring and evaluation; Asset management; Operation and maintenance; Institutional organizational structures and capacity building;

General Aptitude Syllabus

General Aptitude contributes 15 marks within the 100-mark paper. It is not an additional paper that can be left out when choosing the technical sections.

Chapter-wise Weightage and Important Topics

Only the section-wise marks are fixed. IIT Madras has not assigned a guaranteed number of marks to each chapter of Architecture and Planning. A topic may appear in one year and receive fewer questions in another; a past-paper count is not an official 2027 weightage.

For a chapter-weightage comparison, record the year, paper code, session, question number and marks of each matching question. Keep a combined question under one main topic or label the overlap explicitly; counting it twice inflates the total. GATE previous-year question papers can be used for this topic-by-topic practice.

Question Types and Negative Marking

The paper uses one-mark and two-mark questions. The number of MCQ, MSQ and NAT questions is not a fixed chapter-wise quota. In an MSQ, selecting one correct option is not enough when the correct answer contains two options.