UCLA has undergone a metamorphosis in the last decade. All over campus, new spaces have opened and old spaces have been reimagined, reflecting the changing ways we live and learn at a world-class research university.

Three themes characterize this transformation: collaboration, rejuvenation and sustainability. And there’s a hefty dose of spatial magic as well. With the smallest land area and largest student population of any UC campus, UCLA has mastered the art of infill, using spaces between buildings and adapting awkwardly shaped plots of land.

Take a stroll through campus and talk to the people on the scene and behind the scenes who make it all happen.

Geffen Hall

We begin our tour on Le Conte Avenue, outside Geffen Hall, the new home of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Looking at this gleaming new glass-and-brick building, it’s hard to imagine what this site was just a few years ago: a small traffic circle. Geffen Hall is an inspired example of the creative infill construction on campus over the past 10 years. What was once a small, sloped, forgotten corner of campus is now the heart of the medical school, a warm and inviting new connection between campus and city. Medical students stream in from the clinics from the north, filling the new café and sunlit courtyard, and the community at large has a new pedestrian walkway into campus alongside the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden.

Geffen Hall carries forward UCLA’s rich history of innovation and collaboration. The previous job of the university’s first medical director, Stafford Warren, had been medical director of the Manhattan Project during World War II. Warren introduced a radical, interdisciplinary approach to UCLA, bringing schools, hospitals and cutting-edge research from across the health sciences together in one place. This collaborative approach has been key to UCLA’s success over the past half-century. And as the Geffen School of Medicine looks to the future, the collaborative spirit still resonates today.

Inside, we’re greeted by Vice Dean of Education Clarence Braddock, who is currently leading an overhaul of the curriculum with the new facilities permitting innovative ways to structure teaching and learning. He opens the door into a large space with seats clustered into small groups.