School of Architecture at Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU) has a long history. The architecture programs had been set up in the Department of Civil Engineering in 1929. Since the school of Architecture was formally established in 1946, many old professors such as Lin Bingxian, Liu Futai, Xu Zhong and Li wen had taken charge. A lot of outstanding alumni (academician She Hunnan and Peng Yigang, etc.) were cultivated here. Since the reform and opening policy, the major of architecture was restored in 1985. The Department of Architecture was founded in 2002 SWJTU adjusted the disciplines and founded SAD.

Currently, the programs in SAD compose a complete discipline system. SAD has three doctoral programs, including Architecture, Engineering Environment and Landscape, Industrial Design and Engineering. It covers five national first-class disciplines, namely Architecture, Urban and Rural Planning, Landscape Architecture, Design and Fine Arts. It has five first-level master programs in Architecture, Urban and Rural Planning, Landscape Architecture, Design and Fine Arts. It also has the right to confer a number of professional degrees, and 7 undergraduate programs. The Architecture of SAD is a national characteristic subject and key discipline in Sichuan. It is one of the first training majors of national Outstanding Engineers. The Comprehensive Art Modeling Experimental Center is the teaching demonstration center among Sichuan universities. The Modern Design and Culture Research Center is the provincial key research base of philosophy and social science. In Sichuan province, SWJTU is the only unit which has passed the national professional education evolution of Architecture and Urban Planning and gets the right to grant Bachelor or Master Degree in Architecture. Since the start of education, SAD has cultivated more than 6000 graduates, which has made a great contribution to the national construction and education.