The School of Architecture and Planning (SAP), Anna University is one of the premier and oldest institutions of the nation offering architecture and planning education. It was initially started as a Department of Architecture of the University of Madras in the year 1957 and was located in the Alagappa College of Technology, Guindy, offering a five year Bachelor’s Degree Programme in Architecture with an intake of 20 seats. In 1964, the Post Graduate Programme in Town and Country Planning was also started in the same campus to address the needs of South India with respect to planning education. Subsequently, the Department of Architecture and the Department of Planning were integrated under a standalone institution named School of Architecture and Planning with a new independent campus from the year 1968. From 1978, the School became one of the constituent colleges of the newly formed Anna University. In 1981, an interdisciplinary Centre for Human Settlements was established to engage in training, research and consultancy activities.

The School further heightened its aspiration to serve larger society by establishing Post Graduate Degree programmes in Architecture - M.Arch first in 1986 and the specialised programmes M.Arch (Digital) and M.Arch (Landscape) as self supporting courses from 2002. Besides, M.S. (by Research) and Ph.D. programmes are also offered by the School since 1990's. The B.Arch programme has been expanded in intake in recent years in order to offer quality architectural education to a wider number of students. The School of Architecture and Planning proposes to start B.Plan programme from the academic year 2022 as directed by Government of Tamil Nadu.

The well-planned campus of the School provides ample space for administration, lecture halls and studios for both Architecture and Planning courses. There are seminar rooms, staff rooms, an extensive library, multi-purpose hall and student's common room and a workshop. The School has advanced Computer and Networking facilities with exclusive computer labs for UG and PG students The School library functions effectively with financial assistance from the University, Government of Tamil Nadu and the UGC, and the total collection of publications exceeds 13000.

The School’s strength lies in the highly qualified faculty. This adds to facilitation of interactive learning through design projects, student exchange programmes, student seminars, guest lectures etc. The wealth of data collected as part of the design and thesis has been well appreciated by professionals and government departments for their use. The School has produced many notable alumni spread across India and abroad. The School as a foremost institution in India serves as an institutional model in Architecture and Planning, where other schools in this region look up to our curricular and pedagogies for guidance.

The School was originally headed by Directors and later the Deans became the heads of the institution. Currently, Dr.K.R.Sitalakshmi is the Dean of SAP.