We are motivated on the idea of whether a component-based software architecture for evolutionary algorithms would be feasible and advantageous. We believe that depending on the evolutionary computation model, software implementing these algorithms can be robustly built assembling loosely-coupled computational blocks, likewise hardware systems that are built gluing together prefabricated electronic components. We set about to develop an initial architecture with a focus on the genetic algorithm. The paper describes the analysis and design principles used, the obtained architecture, the resulting component specification and closes with a discussion about the benefits of this approach, as well as initial steps towards its implementation in a user-friendly platform for component-based visual programming. The complete portfolio of software models is available at:http://arquisoft.udistrital.edu.co/portal/web/guest/proy-compAG.