CHAIR'S STATEMENT
Changing global realities are causing paradigm shifts that redefine the interaction between culture, politics, economics, and the environment. These changes constantly alter the boundaries between disciplines, creating new perimeters of knowledge that will define the conditions of future inquiries into architecture and urban design. At UCLA, we are deeply immersed in a research environment that anticipates change and can move from the realm of ideas to their application, from present situations to emerging new realities.
Architecture now faces fundamental issues of practice that will alter this ancient discipline. Our senior design faculty is among the most progressive in understanding and exemplifying these transformations: Thom Mayne, Greg Lynn, Neil Denari, Craig Hodgetts, and Mark Mack. In analyzing history and theory as they impact architecture and urban design and contribute to the understanding of visual culture, we are further strengthened by the internationally recognized contributions of Sylvia Lavin, Dana Cuff and Diane Favro.
Redefining architectural education in a major research university, we emphasize interaction among the components of our program, design, technology, and critical studies (history and theory), between our departments and others in the School of the Arts and Architecture and the larger University. We are especially strong in examining the theory and impact of the computer on design, and related developments in robotics and the fabrication of building components. We regard critical studies as making a crucial contribution to the evaluation of new directions in design and issues of contemporary practice, including pressing environmental concerns. We are increasing our interest in cross cultural studies, and exchange programs, which are central at UCLA. We now offer an undergraduate major, allowing us to further expand and enrich our faculty.
Los Angeles is a prototype of the 21st century city, embodying the cultural, social, economic, and political issues, which will be at the center of architectural and urban debates. It also represents a new edge between the West and the East, an intersection of increasing importance where diverse cultures interact, transform, and generate new developments. Los Angeles also provides an infinite resource for the study of architecture and urban design, the direction of high technology and media innovations, and as such is a prime indicator of our global future.
The Department of Architecture and Urban Design at UCLA is at the intersection of a new kind of city with an intense diversity of culture, the growing influence of Asia, and a creative milieu influenced by both high technology and entertainment media. We attract designers and thinkers from around the world who come to share their work and ideas through lectures, exhibitions, and teaching. As a tandem force, the city and the university, with their constant flows of inexhaustible energy, provides a dynamic platform for the study of architecture and urban design today.
Histoshi Abe, Chair
PROFILE
