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Like a building ripe for remodeling, the UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design is under its own construction.

The department is expanding and improving upon its scope with the inception of an undergraduate bachelor of arts program in architectural studies. The program is set to begin in the fall of 2007, with the selection of a class of about 25. Students will be able to start the two-year undergraduate degree as juniors. As in the competitive film program, UCLA students will fulfill prerequisites and apply during their second year for a spot in the major.

A unique program, the new B.A. in architecture is the only one of its kind in all of Southern California. Unlike the usual professional graduate degree in architecture, however, the B.A. allows students more freedom in deciding what career path to embark upon after receiving the degree.

“Sometimes people want to look at architecture and they don’t necessarily want to be architects, or they are unsure,” said interim architecture and urban design department chair Diane Favro. “They may want to study architecture and then go into something else for their graduate work, like urban planning or other related fields. We felt that there was a real gap there that we wanted to fill.”

This broader emphasis will allow students to test out the varied components related to architecture as undergraduates before committing to the rigorous graduate program.

“We felt that the department would benefit from having a greater number of students, for one thing, and also more students looking to study architecture before they have completely decided they want to become an architect,” said Neil Denari, an assistant architecture and urban design professor in residence. “Students could go off to graduate programs in architecture, or a number of them perhaps could go into fine arts, digital media, or other areas that are related to architecture.”

The shift toward a more flexible course of study reflects a growing trend in the field itself, as architecture has taken on a more modern, multifaceted focus.

“The field is very demanding right now,” Favro said. “A lot of work is being done with computers, with the environment and green architecture, and with cultural issues relating to architecture.”

Denari also emphasized this new outlook, which will come through in the material covered by the undergraduate program.

“(The program) will focus less on actual design studio work. A lot of it will be focusing on contemporary architecture, contemporary issues in architecture and the history of architecture. It will also give those students a background on how architecture plays a vital role in our daily lives,” he said.

Another benefit of the undergraduate program will actually come to the graduate students, who will now be able to gain valuable teaching experience.

“We have these graduate students with all of this knowledge, and we haven’t been able to provide them with teaching opportunities,” Favro said. “So one thing that is really great about this program is that it will also allow our graduate students to teach undergraduates as TAs and so on. It’s a resource we’ve had here at UCLA that we haven’t been able to explore yet.”

Although it’s been difficult to accurately gauge students’ response to the new program, as applications are currently out and will not be turned in until November, an interest certainly seems to fill the air.

Wesley Pinkham, a first-year world arts and cultures student in the School of Arts and Architecture, viewed the program as a step in a promising direction.

“By developing an undergraduate architecture program, the School of Arts and Architecture really seems like a complete picture,” Pinkham said. “Students like me could work through any avenue that seems interesting.”

The department hopes to further increase interest in the program among first- and second-year students by featuring lower division architecture courses for the first time this year. Architecture and Urban Design 30, titled Introduction to Architectural Studies, is being offered this fall.

“We hope these lower division courses will attract freshmen and get them interested in the program,” Favro said. “Plus, if they take those, they’ll be a step (ahead).”