College Offers Architecture as Field of Concentration in Fall

Next fall undergraduates will be able to concentrate in Architectural Sciences, according to a plan approved by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Dean Hudnut announced yesterday.

An undergraduate curriculum of a general preparatory nature is to be offered to students of the College who expect to enter the School of Design at a later date. In charge will be a Department of Architectural Sciences, which is to be closely affiliated with the Faculty of Design.

No Technical Work Offered

The course does not include any professional work beyond that already available at the College. What is proposed is an organization or grouping of courses, essentially scholarly in nature, in such a way as to give them a definite direction and unity.

In the past, many students in the College, expecting to enter the School of Design after graduation, have taken courses in the physical sciences, design, and the fine arts. Such curricula are to be placed in charge of a group of instructors more specifically interested in the objectives to which they are addressed.

Has Best Training For Designers

In the opinion of the Faculty of Design, the architectural education now offered at Harvard is superior to that in any other university. When the new arrangement goes into effect, the School of Design will assume the character of a laboratory in which the students, being already familiar with the scientific concepts and essential processes of the several arts of design, will devote themselves to the development of professional aptitudes.

Length of Curricula Reduced

One of the most desirable changes, Dean Hudnut's office announces, is the reduction of the length of the combined curricula of college plus profess- ional school from 71/2 to 61/2 years. The decrease of the time required for the training of an architect is making it possible to test the qualifications of students for professional studies while they are still in college.

In addition to the courses now offered, many new ones will be added by the Department of the Architectural Sciences. No one will be permitted to concentrate in the new field except as a candidate for honors.

Field To Be Kept Small

At any time the total number of concentrators will not be allowed to exceed 45. Tutors are felt to be necessary and, unless there is a change in the original program, no tutorial consultations will be provided.

Concentrators will be advised to take two courses in each of the following: the history of architecture and of planning, the theory and practice of design, and architectural design. Regular college courses suggested are English 1, History 1, Mathematics A, and Economics A in the Freshman year; Philosophy B, and Physics C in the Sophomore; and Geology L in the Senior year