Undergraduate Architecture Major

The School offers an undergraduate major in architecture exclusively to students enrolled in Yale College. Students who desire this major must apply directly to Yale College.

Bachelor of Arts

Preliminary Registration for Prospective Majors

Students who intend to declare architecture as their major must register with the director of undergraduate studies during the spring term of their sophomore year. The standard major, which is limited, provides a nonprofessional introduction to the visual, spatial, and intellectual basis of architecture.

Application to the Architecture Major

Yale College students must apply to enter the major during the spring term of their sophomore year. Following the application and review process, admitted students enter the major during the fall term of their junior year.

Introduction to Architecture

The introductory courses to the study of architecture are open to all Yale College sophomores, juniors, and seniors, and are required prior to applying for the architecture major. With permission of the director of undergraduate studies, the prerequisite may be waived for students with sufficient experience in architecture or in relevant subjects.

The Standard Major

The purpose of the undergraduate standard major in architecture at Yale is to include the study of architecture within the broader context of a liberal arts education. While the core requirements focus on architectural design, the overall curriculum includes theory and history of architecture, leading to a bachelor of arts degree. In this manner students are prepared for advanced study in architecture, art, history of art, city planning and development, the social sciences, or public affairs.

Requirements of the Major

To graduate as a Yale College major in architecture, a student must complete a core of seven courses (including three prerequisites). Six to seven additional courses are required for majors, depending on their area of concentration, which are:

1. Architecture and Design, which investigates the ways in which cultural ideas, information, actions, and locations may be visually communicated in the material fabric of architecture. Exercises in this concentration are predominantly studio-based.
2. History, Theory, and Criticism, which examines written texts about architecture from classical antiquity to current debates. The students are expected to analyze rigorously and write theoretical and critical papers about the past, present, and future potential of architecture.
3. Architecture and Urban Studies, which encourages a broad, interdisciplinary investigation of the complex forces that shape the urban and physical environment.

For full course descriptions, see Yale College Programs of Study.