After nearly 20 years as a minor or track of another department, the architecture program at Stanford has finally found a home. This month, it became a full-fledged major with a brand new 700-square-foot studio in the Terman Engineering Building equipped with and 20 workstations.

“There has been enough interest from students and enough support from the School of Engineering that we were able to create a separate major, rather than just being a track,” said Patti Walters, director of the new Architectural Design major. “There used to be a minor for Architectural Engineering offered by the Engineering school. That minor eventually became this new major, which is still hosted by the Department of Environmental and Civil Engineering.”

The curriculum will focus on three primary themes; representation, process and sustainability. Students will take courses in drawing, modeling, computer modeling and oral presentation. Classes will follow the design process of an architect and study the creative process in a hands-on and open-ended way. However, being co-housed by the Environmental Engineering department, it’s no surprise that there will also be a heavy emphasis on “green” architecture.

“We want to build not only nice-looking, exciting and innovative buildings,” Walters said, “but we also want them to be sustainable.”

Administrators said they hope that students who complete this program for their bachelor’s degree will be well-prepared for future training in the field.

“It’s good preparation for architectural graduate school, but it’s still a liberal arts course,” Walters said. “It’s important that someone could not leave here and work in architecture — there is additional training necessary.”

There are also opportunities for collaboration between related departments.

“The major really crosses the line between architecture and engineering; a student from our program could do very well in graduate-level engineering as well,” Walters said. “There are enough math and science courses to consider our major as being merged strongly with that of engineering.”

Prior to the conception of this major, Walters said, there really was only one track for “artsy techies” to go down.

“Before our creation, product design was really the only option for more creative engineering students,” Walters explained. “When I talk to students and they are interested in going down a creative track, it’s exciting because there are two tracks now. We want to nurture that individual who is interested in more creative courses.”

Interest among undergraduates has been very high. More than 40 students came to the department’s open house, and there are already 14 enrolled in the major. All this despite the fact that the degree is not accredited.

“It’s a good fit between my creative brain and my math/science brain,” interested sophomore Alex Gioe explained in a recent issue of the Stanford Report.

Though the major has been inaugurated, the minor still exists. It will offer courses along the same lines as the major, only with less of an emphasis on preparation for a professional career.

“The architecture minor is appropriate for individuals from a wide variety of other majors,” Walters said. “The minor is not like a baby major. It’s not shooting for the same thing.”

In addition to the minor, a concentration in architecture will be offered in civil engineering. The concentration will allow engineering students to get some exposure to the hands-on, process-oriented design classes that are typical for the field.

Students and faculty alike seem to agree that this is certainly a step forward for the University.

“It’s a terrific major,” Walters said. “We’re really excited about what’s going on.”