From 1930 to 1935, Belaúnde studied architecture in the United States, where he first attended the University of Miami (where his father was also teaching), and in 1935 transferred to the University of Texas at Austin, where he obtained his degree as an architect. He later moved to Mexico and worked as an architect for a brief time, but returned to Peru in 1936 and started his professional career as an architect designing private homes. In 1937, he started a magazine called "El Arquitecto Peruano" ("Peruvian Architect"), which dealt with interior design, general urbanism and housing problems the country was facing. This also gave way to the Architects Association of Peru and the Urbanism Institute of Peru.