Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in Architecture

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

The UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position at the rank of Assistant Professor in Architecture. The successful candidate will teach design studios and seminars across undergraduate and graduate programs, spanning foundational through advanced levels, while contributing to the broader intellectual life and future direction of the department.

The anticipated start date is July 1, 2027.

Qualifications

• Master of Architecture degree or higher is required for this position.

Responsibilities

• Teach design studios and seminars across undergraduate and graduate programs.
• Contribute to the department's pedagogical initiatives and curriculum development.
• Advance scholarly research and professional practice in architectural design.
• Engage with the broader intellectual life of UCLA and the School of Arts and Architecture.

Education

Master of Architecture or higher

Job description

The UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position at the rank of Assistant Professor in Architecture. We seek exceptional candidates whose work advances architectural design through rigorous inquiry, experimentation, and creative practice, with a sustained contribution to the discipline and a strong commitment to academic scholarship. The department welcomes candidates developing new questions, methods, and forms of practice that expand the boundaries of architectural knowledge while remaining grounded in the intellectual, technical, and cultural rigor of the discipline. The successful candidate will bring a distinctive research agenda to the department, broaden its current areas of inquiry, and play a central role in shaping forward-looking pedagogical initiatives as well as new directions for architectural education. The new faculty member will teach design studios and seminars across undergraduate and graduate programs, spanning foundational through advanced levels, while contributing to the broader intellectual life and future direction of the department. The anticipated start date is July 1, 2027. A Master of Architecture degree or higher is required for this position.

Recognized nationally and internationally, UCLA Architecture and Urban Design is well-known for its excellence in design, scholarship, and research. Degree programs in the department include a Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies (B.A.), a professional Master of Architecture (M.Arch.I), a post-professional Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design (MSAUD), and a Master of Arts/Doctor of Philosophy in Architecture (M.A./Ph.D.). Under the umbrella of UCLA School of Arts and Architecture, our department maintains a valuable proximity to multiple creative disciplines housed in UCLA Departments of Art, Design Media Arts, and World Arts and Cultures/Dance, and UCLA’s public arts institutions—UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance and the Hammer and Fowler Museums. This broader coalition of creative cultural production enriches our everyday collective experience within the University and reinforces the intellectual expansion of our community beyond our own discipline.

As part of UCLA, the nation’s #1 public university, the Department of Architecture and Urban Design is committed to advancing the discipline and profession in response to environmental, civic, and spatial challenges. Across all degree programs, the department embraces architecture’s capacity to foster greater equity, diversity, and inclusion while contributing to a more just, resilient, and beautiful built environment. The primacy of design as a response to environmental and social contexts remains central to our pedagogical philosophy and informs every aspect of our architectural curriculum.

Our exceptional faculty explore a broad range of research topics in their teaching and creative practices. We are immersed in the areas of contemporary architectural mediation, advanced digital fabrication, augmented and virtual reality protocols, sustainable material explorations, potentials of industry partnerships, new urban policies, speculative near-future scenarios, alternative housing typologies, climate change resiliency strategies, emerging ecologies in the Anthropocene and more. We collectively embrace the notion that architectural discipline must expand on multiple trajectories to generate new, productive, and meaningful discourse.

The UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture is committed to fostering a dynamic academic community responsive to the evolving educational and demographic landscape of Los Angeles, the State of California, and the Nation. The Department of Architecture and Urban Design values intellectual rigor, cultural engagement, and creative inquiry. Personal qualities such as originality, initiative, and collaborative leadership are highly valued and will contribute to a successful application. We welcome candidates whose perspectives, research, and professional experience will enrich the department’s intellectual community, strengthen its curriculum, and contribute to meaningful discourse within the discipline.

A Master of Architecture degree or higher is a requirement for this position.