Design
Our unsurpassed faculty in design has developed a curriculum that focuses on formal research and experimentation and insists that architecture and urban design respond proactively to the always-shifting contemporary world. During the past few decades, profound social change, significant technological innovations, and a new global environment have radically challenged traditional models for the profession. Design is not only the primary activity of the professional architect or urbanist it is also the intellectual and methodological foundation of the discipline of architecture. Rather than promote design as willful self-expression in the tradition of heroic modernism, the Department seeks to engage students in the thoughtful investigation of form as socially, politically, and technically determined. Students are encouraged to develop design expertise as well as to understand architecture and urban design in relation to their widest cultural implications. This view permits students to investigate fully their field and to deploy its potential with the greatest strategic effect.
The Department emphasizes the relationships between form, technique, manufacture, environment, and context and seeks to discern their underlying principles of organization. Courses in new types of building construction, computational design, theories of architectural and urban form are all brought to bear on studio work. Advanced studios explore special topics in digital design, contemporary urban form, emerging technologies, and other issues. Problems range from small houses developed for local communities to extra large extensions of infrastructure that establish links between buildings and cities, between interiors and landscapes, between regions and the global context. New developments in computer-aided design, modeling, and visualization techniques are particularly emphasized. Through a progressive curriculum that enables students to navigate the complex and interdisciplinary demands of architecture and urbanism, the Department prepares students to be leaders in the professions and discipline of design.
Critical Studies
Critical Studies in architectural culture explores the history, theory, and criticism of architecture and urbanism. Drawing on significant transformations in academic scholarship in recent years, the program is fundamentally interdisciplinary. Developments in visual culture, cultural studies, intellectual history, urban studies, and critical theory have all been incorporated into the program, creating a dynamic and evolving curriculum. A broad range of courses stress the relationship of architecture and urbanism to their cultural, social, political, and technological milieus. Students can concentrate in many areas, including the history of the profession, issues in representation, the history of discourses on architecture and the city, gender analyses, problems in modernization, and contemporary theory. The program has strong affiliations with other departments, including history, art history, art, film, comparative literature, and urban planning, enabling students to develop comprehensive approaches to the study of the field. Of equal importance to Critical Studies in Architectural Culture is its location within a highly active professional program in architecture. Students are encouraged to understand their historical and theoretical work in relation to the current professional, technological, and social concerns of architecture as well as to contemporary design debates. The constant interaction between critical research and new developments in the practice of architecture and urbanism lends the program a distinctive vitality and gives students’ work an exciting urgency.
The M.A. and Ph.D. programs aim to guide students toward original research in the critical studies of architectural culture. The program encourages students to investigate through historical, theoretical, and cultural interrogation issues of importance to the contemporary architectural discipline. Although the primary focus of the curriculum is in modern architecture of the Western world, historical interdisciplinary and cross-cultural subjects are also explored. While enrolled in this core program, students take other electives in the Department and across the University. The program culminates in a thesis or dissertation, written under the close supervision of a faculty advisor, that contributes to the discourse on architecture and demonstrates an understanding of architecture’s structural and ideological role in the production of culture. The program is distinguished by its frank engagement with current architectural debate and practices, and by its commitment to rigorous scholarship.
Students interested in visualization, VR modeling, historical reconstructions, and related areas may apply for internships, jobs, and training at the Experiential Technology Center directed by AUD Professor Diane Favro. ETC encourages interdisciplinary research through technology-mediated collaboration focusing on visualization, sound, temporalization, spatialization and other sensorial factors. In addition, the center investigates and promotes educational applications, grant acquisition, and distribution of production-quality applications and software.
Technology
Technology continues to be one of the most transformative influences in the contemporary world and UCLA gives students of architecture and urban design the opportunity to explore this constantly changing field at the highest level. The impact of the computer on architecture is an especially exciting development and our students leave UCLA well prepared to exploit and benefit from the age of information. Though we train students in the traditional types of building technologies necessary to professional competence, such as structures, construction, environmental technologies, and mechanical systems, we also seek to advance the state of architectural knowledge by undertaking research in emerging technologies. Capitalizing on the rich professional context of Los Angeles, the program invites leading engineers and architectural technologists to to teach about innovative developments in their fields.
UCLA is unique in providing both the intellectual and the technical resources needed to fully explore a wide range of issues in design and computation. The impact of the computer on the manufacturing process, on environmental and sustainable design, and on new techniques of visualization, from CAD to virtual reality, is our focus. Advanced courses explore special topics in computer-aided design, software development, new modes of manufacture, the use of CNC (computer numerically controlled) milling in the development of building elements, and rapid prototyping. Our expertise in emerging digital technologies and our commitment to understanding these developments in relation to design has permitted UCLA to taking a leading role in defining the next phase of architecture’s technological evolution.
Note: The Department is not currently accepting doctoral applications in the area of Technology.
Design
M271 Elements of Urban Design
Lecture, three hours. Introduction of basic knowledge of elements and methods of urban design. Multidisciplinary approach leading to understanding of political, socioeconomic, and technological framework of urban systems and its dynamic interrelations.
M272 Real Estate Development and Finance
Introduction to real estate development process specifically geared to students in planning, urban design, and architecture. Financial decision model, market studies, designs, loan package, development plan, and feasibility study. Lectures and projects integrate development process with proposed design solutions, which are iteratively modified to meet economic feasibility tests.
291 Theory of Architectural Programming
Lecture, three hours. Exploration of concepts and methods of architectural programming and its interrelation to design process; planning of design process; various techniques for determination of program contents, basic conditions, resources, and constraints; identification of solution types for given situations.
401 Advanced Topics Studio
Studio, 12 hours. Prerequisite: intermediate level studios (412, 413, 414) or M.Arch.II standing. A number of different projects focusing on special topics in architectural design will be offered by members of the faculty from which the students may choose. May be repeated for credit.
403A–403C Research Studio
Lecture (F&W, IP), Studio, 12 hours (S). Prerequisite: satisfactory completion of courses 411, 412, 413, 414, and 415 for M.Arch.I, or M.Arch.II standing. Beginning with an indepth research phase (403A, B) and resulting in an advanced studio project (403C), this research studio focuses on a number of different special topics in architecture and urban design.
411 Introductory Design Studio
Studio, 12 hours. Prerequisite: consent of instructor. This course introduces sketching, drawing, perspectives, CAD. Architectural completion is initially studied in terms of its separate elements. Each is studied by means of manipulative exercise, which allows for experimentation of its intrinsic possibilities. Students undertake a series of closely controlled exercises dealing with combining the elements, then designing small buildings.
412 Building Design Studio
Studio, 12 hours. Prerequisite: course 411 or consent of instructor. This course concentrates on basic skills and then leads to projects exploring the architectural program in relation to design process and, particularly, implications of program on architectural forms and concepts. In the second phase, structural elements are introduced to fulfill program requirements and to support and further develop intended forms and concepts.
413 Building Design with Landscape Studio
Studio, 12 hours. Prerequisite: course 412 or consent of instructor. This course introduces theoretical and technical issues such as site planning, urban design, landscape design, building typology, etc; building design and site planning in relation to water, landforms, and plants in natural light, heat, and ventilation.
414 Major Building Design Studio
Studio, 12 hours. Prerequisite: course 413 and/or consent of instructor. Introduce issues such as programming and program manipulation, site planning, urban design, and integration of technical systems and architectural expression. The emphasis is on treatment in breadth of large-scale projects, or in the exploration in depth and detail of smaller scale projects. Students will learn to integrate structure, environmental control, etc. and present their ideas in graphic or model form.
415 Comprehensive Studio
Studio, 12 hours. Prerequisite: course 414 and/or consent of instructor. This studio, the culmination of the core sequence (411–414), focuses on the development phase of a project. Technical concerns such as lighting, material innovations, sustainability, construction documents, and building envelopes will be considered critical to the generation of architectural form, integrated in the design of a single building project.
M404 Joint Planning/Architecture Studio
Lecture, one hour; discussion, one hour; studio, four hours. Opportunity to work on joint planning/ architecture project for a client. Outside speakers; field trips. Examples of past projects include Third Street Housing, Santa Monica; “New American House” for nontraditional households; guide to setting up shelters for homeless in Los Angeles County; working with resident leaders at Los Angeles City public housing development.
Critical Studies in Architectural Culture
M201 Theories of Architecture
Lecture, 90 minutes. Exploration of the conceptual and historical structures that shape current issues in architectural theory. Readings in primary texts serve as a framework for understanding the nature of speculative inquiry in an architectural context.
286 Roman Architecture and Urbanism
Lecture, three hours. Examination of architectural and urban developments during Roman period, from archaic age to late Empire. Built environments of ancient world investigated from various perspectives, with consideration to programming, symbolism, and viewing, as well as to technological, aesthetic, and political factors. S/U or letter grading.
288 Renaissance Architecture & Urbanism
Lecture, three hours. Examination of architectural developments from the 15th to 17th century. Primary focus on Italian peninsula, and extending to entire Mediterranean basin. Analysis of individual structures, cities, and landscape designs to reveal changing cultural and theoretical values, as well as specific aesthetic and iconographic content. S/U or letter grading.
289 Special Topics in Architecture and Urban Design
(2 to 4 units) Prerequisite: consent of instructor. Selected academic topics initiated by students, student teams, or faculty and directed by a faculty member. May be repeated for credit.
290 Special Topics in Critical Studies in Architectural Culture
Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour; outside study, 11 hours. Designed for graduate students. Exploration of how architecture operates in relation to wider cultural, historical, and theoretical issues. May be repeated for a maximum of 30 units. Letter grading.
M293 Politics, Ideology, and Design
Seminar, three hours. An exploration of the cultural, political context of architecture and planning work. Theory and practice will be examined from a variety of perspectives applied to a set of varied physical environments and to a set of current spatialized concepts. The seminar will alternate between considerations of theoretical propositions that are shaping present urban and architectural debate and concrete case studies where politics and ideology shape the design process.
461 Architectural Practice
Seminar, three hours. Historical development of the profession; role of architect in contemporary society, current forms of practice and emerging trends, contractual relationships, ethical responsibility, office management, and promotion. Case studies of practical process.
Technology
220 Introduction to Computers
Laboratory, one and one-half hours. Introduces students to basic concepts, skills, theoretical aspects of Computer– Aided Architectural Design, microcomputer skills.Applications selected are commonly found in professional offices. The course will cover 2 and 3 dimensional representation, i.e., painting, drafting, multimedia, hypermedia, and modeling.
M227A Programming Computer Applications in Architecture and Urban Design
Lecture, three hours. Introductory course in the logic of computing through experiments in computer graphics programming. The course will investigate both procedural and object-oriented approaches to programming.
CM247A Introduction to Sustainable Architecture and Community Planning (Formerly numbered 247A)
Lecture, three hours. Energy and alternative resource-conscious design integration into architectural and urban design: passive, active, and photovoltaic building materials at scale of buildings and communities. Concurrently scheduled with course C191.
431 Structures I
Lecture, three hours. Prerequisites: basic algebra, geometry, trigonometry, consent of instructor. Introduction to structural behavior and structural statics. Operations with forces and factors, both algebraically and graphically. Equilibrium of force systems, polygon of forces, and funicular polygon. Internal actions; axial force and bending moment. Reactions, stability, and statical determinacy. Determinate frames. Plane trusses; analysis and design.
432 Structures II
Lecture, three hours. Prerequisites: course 431, consent of instructor. Mechanics of structures and structural elements. Elastic materials: stress, strain, and stress-strain relations. Theory of bending curvature, stress and strain distributions, centroid, moments of inertia, resisting and plastic moments. Design of beams for bending, shear, and deflections. Torsion members. Instability and design of columns. Design for combined bending and compression. Tensile structures; cables, pneumatic structures. Slabs and plates; shells and folded plates.
433 Structures III
Lecture, three hours. Prerequisites: course 432, consent of instructor. Introduction to statically indeterminate analysis. Structural materials and loads. Wind loads: distribution with height, design for comfort, structure behavior under lateral loads. Steel construction and concepts for high–rise structures. Structural case studies in timber and steel. Introduction to earthquakes; seismology, magnitude, intensity, history. Seismic instrumentation. Case studies of recent earthquakes and damage. Earthquake design concepts and seismic code requirements.
436 Introduction to Building Construction
Laboratory, two hours. An introduction to construction techniques. The physical principles and materials for making architecture will be studied through a series of exercises and field trips.
437 Building Construction
Laboratory, four hours. Principles of structure, and enclosure focusing on production and materials research. Building elements are explored for formal and functional properties; design development of project in previous studio may be developed in detail with the integration of a range of technical systems.
441 Environmental Control Systems
Prerequisite: consent of instructor. Design of mechanical systems necessary for functioning of large buildings: air handling, fire and life safety, plumbing, vertical and horizontal circulation, communication and electrical power distribution, analysis of interaction of these systems and their integrated effects on architectural form of a building.
442 Building Climatology
Prerequisite: basic physics. Design of buildings which
specifically respond to local climate; utilization of natural energies, human thermal comfort; sun motion and sun control devices; use of plant materials and landform to modifying microclimate.
General Courses
375 Teaching Apprentice Practicum
Prerequisite: apprentice personnel employment as a teaching assistant, associate, or fellow. Teaching apprenticeship under active guidance and supervision of a regular faculty member responsible for curriculum and instruction at the University. May be repeated for credit. S/U grading.
496 Special Projects in Architecture
Prerequisite: consent of instructor. Projects initiated either by individual students or student teams and directed by a faculty member. May be repeated for credit.
497 Special Projects in Urban Design
Prerequisite: consent of instructor. Structural investigation of relationship between verbal description and architectural design. S/U grading.
498 Comprehensive Examination Seminar
Seminar, three hours; outside study, nine hours. Seminar intended to begin process of developing independent proposal with related research and documentation that moves toward production of final document or book for each project. S/U grading.
501 Cooperative Program
Prerequisite: consent of UCLA graduate adviser and graduate dean and host campus instructor, department chair, and graduate dean. Used to record enrollment of UCLA students in courses taken under cooperative arrangement with USC.
596 Directed Individual Research and Study in Architecture and Urban Design
May be repeated for credit. S/U grading.
597 Preparation for Comprehensive Examination or Ph.D. Qualifying Examinations
Prerequisite: consent of instructor. May be repeated for credit. S/U grading.
598 Preparation in Architecture and Urban Design for Master’s Thesis
Prerequisite: consent of instructor. May be repeated for credit. S/U grading.
599 Ph.D. Dissertation Research in Architecture
Prerequisite: doctoral standing. May be repeated for credit. S/U grading.
10A History of Architecture and Urban Design (5)
Lecture, three hours. Introduction to the history of architecture and urban design covering prehistory to the age of Mannerism. Lectures consider architectural and urban projects in relation to their theoretical, philosophical, and sociopolitical contexts, including issues of gender and diversity. Periodic lectures consider the world at large, analyzing synchronic architectural and urban solutions.
10B History of Architecture and Urban Design (5)
Lecture, three hours. Introduction to the history of architecture and urban environments covering the period from the Baroque Age to the present. Lectures consider architectural and urban projects in relation to their theoretical, philosophical, and sociopolitical contexts, including issues of gender and diversity.
19. Fiat Lux Freshman Seminars (1)
Seminar, one hour. Discussion of and critical thinking about topics of current intellectual importance, taught by faculty members in their areas of expertise and illuminating many paths of discovery at UCLA. P/NP grading.
30. Introduction to Architectural Studies (5)
Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour; outside study, 11 hours. Exploration of role of built environment in social, cultural, and political life: how buildings are constructed, what they mean, effects they have on world, and ways they imagine new futures and shape private and public life. Focus on series of contemporary case studies for what each reveals about new possibilities for shaping world in which we live, with emphasis on how architecture extends to cities, roads, books, and films. Consideration of historical context and cultural genealogy of particular buildings and environments, material and economic conditions of building, and more. P/NP or letter grading.
121. Studio I (6)
Studio, eight hours; outside study, 10 hours. Limited to Architectural Studies majors. Introduction to basic architectural design principles and problem solving: how to control point, line, surface, and volume to shape spaces for human use. Visual analysis as tool for discussing and understanding organization. Techniques of repetition, variation, order, scale, and rhythm. Use of case-study analysis to uncover disciplinary issues within design problems, as well as to produce individual solutions to those problems. Letter grading.
122. Studio II (6)
Studio, eight hours; outside study, 10 hours. Enforced requisite: course 121. Limited to Architectural Studies majors. Issues of inhabitation, domesticity, and program. Architectural precedents and principles of spatial organization. Relationship of architectural form to human body and role of architectural space in choreography of human activity. Understanding and application of knowledge of architectural tectonics, structure, and measurement. Letter grading.
123. Studio III (6)
Studio, eight hours; outside study, 10 hours. Enforced requisites: courses 121, 122. Limited to Architectural Studies majors. Introduction to disciplinary issues, techniques, and organizations of landscape and how those can influence design of building and site. Development of material and temporal characteristics of architecture relative to role those play in landscape. Introduction to issues of accessibility and egress as systems of movement. Structure as serial component that relates to site, construction, topography, climatology, accessibility, and their mutual interaction. Letter grading.
M125B. Digital Cultural Mapping Core Course B: Google Earth, Geographic Information Systems, Hypercities, and Timelines (4)
(Same as Ancient Near East M125B.) Laboratory, three hours; discussion, one hour. Enforced requisite: Ancient Near East 125A. Hands-on laboratory-based investigation of emerging digital mapping technologies, including instruction in Web-based mapping applications, virtual globes, and geographic information systems (GIS). Critique and creation of maps of cultural phenomena, applying skills students learned in Ancient Near East 125A to real-world data sets in humanities and social sciences. By mastering emerging technologies in field of digital cultural mapping, students take part in evaluation and production of sophisticated visual representations of complex data, becoming active participants in development of this new field. How to use suite of GIS and neogeography tools. Fostering of creative approaches to and engagement with mapping technologies: What new questions can be asked and answered using these technologies? How does one reason, argue, and solve real-world problems through digital cultural mapping? Design, development, and implementation of student mappi
M125C. Digital Cultural Mapping Core Course C: Summer Research (4)
(Same as Ancient Near East M125C.) Laboratory, three hours; fieldwork, one hour. Enforced requisite: course M125B or Ancient Near East M125B. Participation in collaborative geographic information systems (GIS) research project in humanities or social sciences using skills learned in courses 125A and M125B. Gathering and input of datasets from real-world sources, creating visual representations of data through production of digital maps, and performing analysis of larger dataset to answer specific research questions. Final oral presentation required that details student work and provides critical analysis of source material and technological/methodological issues inherent to type of GIS used for investigation. Part of Digital Cultural Mapping Project supported by W.M. Keck Foundation. Offered in summer only. P/NP or letter grading.
M130. Space and Place (4)
(Same as World Arts and Cultures M130.) Lecture, three hours. Survey of array of spaces and places from cross-cultural or comparative perspective and with performance emphasis, with focus on mutual interaction of human beings and their created environments. Emphasis on common, ordinary, anonymous, or vernacular nonbuilt and built environments, that are built and used by members of small-scale, traditional, and transitional communities around world. P/NP or letter grading.
131. Issues in Contemporary Design (5)
Lecture, three hours; outside study, 12 hours. Limited to Architectural Studies majors. How global design culture today operates as part of set of spatial, economic, political, and social discourses. From development of cities to new formal languages in architecture, consequences of fact that great percentage of our lives is spent in controlled designed environments, including role that research and interdisciplinarity play today in influencing design ideas and processes, as well as how design is influenced by technology and new urban conditions. Letter grading.
132. Domestic Architecture: Critical History (5)
Lecture, three hours; outside study, 12 hours. Limited to Architectural Studies majors. Investigation of relationship between culture and design through medium of domestic architecture, from communal living arrangements of antiquity to functional and automated ideals of modern movement. Exploration of how design of domestic interior has evolved to express and accommodate corresponding developments in lifestyle and taste. Letter grading.
133. Modernism and Metropolis (5)
Lecture, three hours; outside study, 12 hours. Limited to Architectural Studies majors. Introduction to emergence of contemporary metropolis through series of comparative urban explorations that begin in Los Angeles and extend to engage range of cities, including key examples from Asia to South America. Modern project can be seen in myriad forms across globe, so that city and suburb, taken together, exist in complex commingling of aesthetic, political, spatial, economic, technological, and social issues. Letter grading.
141. Technology I: Projections (5)
Laboratory, four hours; outside study, 11 hours. Limited to Architectural Studies majors. Introduction to techniques of spatial representation as they relate to architectural design. How to communicate using two- and three-dimensional drawing and modeling. Analog and digital techniques and opportunity afforded by moving between both. Analog techniques include orthographic and axonometric projection. Digital techniques focus on computer graphics fundamentals, including bit map and vector graphic imaging using Adobe suite and modeling using Rhinoceros. Letter grading.
142. Technology II: Building Materials and Methods (5)
Laboratory, four hours; outside study, 11 hours. Limited to Architectural Studies majors. Introduction to construction systems and materials in relation to design, such as framed, bearing wall, or hybrid systems. Graphic conventions and organization of construction documents. Letter grading.
143. Technology III: Digital Technology (5)
Laboratory, four hours; outside study, 11 hours. Limited to Architectural Studies majors. Overview of three-dimensional computer-aided visualization concepts, teaching applications of AutoCAD and Maya and their use relative to process of design and visual communication. Basic representation methods and tools and introduction to additional concepts required to dynamically interact with computer and to explore and understand communicative capacities of different methods of representation. Explanation of bitmap versus vector graphics, typography basics, and color output and integration for print and Web, and introduction to three-dimensional digital modeling and fabrication. Letter grading.
CM153. Introduction to Sustainable Architecture and Community Planning (4)
(Same as Environment M153.) Lecture, three hours. Relationship of built environment to natural environment through whole systems approach, with focus on sustainable design of buildings and planning of communities. Emphasis on energy efficiency, renewable energy, and appropriate use of resources, including materials, water, and land. Concurrently scheduled with course CM247A. Letter grading.