I am aware of the fact that TFS 2010 ultimate edition can create and validate architecture diagrams.  For example, I can create a new modeling project > add Layer Diagram > Add Layer called View > Add BL Layer > Add DL layer.Then I can validate this architecture as part of the build process when someone tries to check code into TFS.  In other words, if the View references the DL then the compilation process will fail and the checkin will not be allowed.For those without an MSDN ultimate license, can FxCop or some 3rd party utility be used to validate architecture in an automated fashion?  I prefer a TFS install-able plugin, but a local VS plugin will do.
Automated architecture validation
architecture;tools;team foundation server
NDepend really is a great option. it can do a lot and analyze your code during the build. You would need to write your own CQL querys to check for valid dependencies and you need to pay for it. If you do a lot of code reviews or need to investigate legacy software NDepend brings a lot of value.Another solution could be to write your own custom build task ( There might already be one somewhere, but I could not find it ) Here is a simple start https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5622141/msbuild-reference-resolution  together with this great series you should be able to get it to work.Hope this helps.update (11-6-2012) NDepend 4.0 was released including default rules for architecture and layering check out the new default rules here : http://www.ndepend.com/DefaultRules/webframe.htmlupdate (10-2-2013) I tried using nDepend for validation and wrote a post about it Using NDepend as an alternative to the Layered Diagram