Southern California Institute of Architecture

Last updated

Southern California Institute of Architecture
Pavillion.jpg
Southern California Institute of Architecture
Type Private architecture school
Established1972
Director Hernan Diaz Alonso
Students500
Location, ,
United States

34°02′46″N118°14′00″W / 34.045984°N 118.233431°W / 34.045984; -118.233431
Campus Urban
Website www.sciarc.edu
Sciarclogo.svg

Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) is a private architecture school in Los Angeles, California. [1] Founded in 1972, SCI-Arc was initially regarded as both institutionally and artistically avant-garde and more adventurous than traditional architecture schools based in the United States. [2] It consists of approximately 500 students and 80 faculty members, some of whom are practicing architects. It is based in the quarter-mile long (0.40 km) former Santa Fe Freight Depot in the Arts District in downtown Los Angeles. It also offers community events such as outreach programs, free exhibitions, and public lectures. [1]

Contents

History

SCI-Arc was founded in 1972 in Santa Monica by Ray Kappe, Shelly Kappe, Ahde Lahti, Thom Mayne, Bill Simonian, Glen Small, and James Stafford, a group of faculty from the Department of Architecture at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. [1] The founders were frustrated with how the administrators at Cal Poly [3] treated the students and faculty members, and they wanted to address the issue from a more experimental perspective than traditional schools offered. [4]

Originally called the New School, SCI-Arc was based on the concept of a "college without walls," and it remains one of the few independent architecture schools in the world. Initially, instead of academic hierarchies, the School favoured a horizontal relationship between professors and students, who took responsibility for their own course of study. Kappe, who had founded the Cal Poly department, became the new school's first director and served in that position until 1987. He was awarded the AIA/ACSA Topaz Medal for excellence in architecture education in 1990. [5]

Kappe was succeeded as director by Michael Rotondi, one of SCI-Arc's original students. Neil Denari became director in 1997; Eric Owen Moss served as director from 2002–2015; [6] Hernán Díaz Alonso was appointed Director and Chief Executive Officer effective Sept 1, 2015. [7] Díaz Alonso has been a faculty member at SCI-Arc since 2001. He is known for championing the school's push toward a digital future and, prior to his appointment as Director, has served as the school's Graduate Programs Chair since 2010. [7]

Although SCI-Arc was once unaccredited and its finances unstable—Moss joked, "We used to be considered one step ahead of the IRS, one step ahead of creditors"—the school is now fully accredited, and its finances improved to the point that SCI-Arc was able to pay $23.1 million to buy its campus building in 2011. [4] "The main thing is to figure out a way for SCI-Arc to keep growing without losing its character and pedigree," Díaz Alonso said in an interview following his appointment as director. [7]

Campus

North End of SCI-Arc from Santa Fe Ave, Downtown Los Angeles SciArc SantaFe.jpg
North End of SCI-Arc from Santa Fe Ave, Downtown Los Angeles
SCI-Arc Campus at the former Santa Fe Freight Depot building, view facing the institute's library. SCI-Arc.JPG
SCI-Arc Campus at the former Santa Fe Freight Depot building, view facing the institute's library.

The school has been based in three locations—the first (1972-1992) a small industrial building in Santa Monica, and later moved into the second, larger (concrete post & beam) industrial building (1992-2000) in Marina del Rey.

In 2001, it moved to its current building, the 60,000-square-foot 1907 Santa Fe Freight Depot designed by Harrison Albright on the eastern edge of Downtown Los Angeles. When SCI-Arc arrived, the building was a stripped-down concrete shell. Today the building is on the National Register of Historic Places and the school has become an anchor for the city's Arts District.

The school conducts design projects that engage with under-served members of the community. To these ends, SCI-Arc has been awarded a $400,000 grant by ArtPlace to develop two on-campus public performance/lecture spaces, as well as development for a third public venue in the surrounding arts district. [8] Across the street, "One Santa Fe," a 438-unit apartment complex designed by Michael Maltzan Architecture (MMA) opened in 2014. [9]

Academics

SCI-Arc offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board and the WASC Senior College and University Commission, including a five-year Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch) program, a 3-year Master of Architecture (M.Arch 1) open to applicants who hold a bachelor's degree or equivalent in any field of study, and a 2-year Master of Architecture (M.Arch 2) open to applicants with a prior undergraduate degree in architecture.

In addition to its undergraduate and graduate programs, SCI-Arc offers four one-year postgraduate programs in fields including architectural technologies, entertainment and fiction, design of cities, and theory and pedagogy.

SCI-Arc's undergraduate and graduate programs culminate in two public events in which students present their thesis projects to renowned critics from around the world, including Peter Cook, Greg Lynn, and Pritzker Prize recipient Thom Mayne. [10] "SCI-Arc has long been one of this country's best experimental labs in which designers speculate about the future of the human-made environment, and its thesis projects are its calling cards." [11]

Public programs

A recent program and exhibition, "LA in Wien/Wien in LA," investigated the architecture of Los Angeles and Vienna and their respective influences on one another in over the last century. It brought together six esteemed international architects—Hitoshi Abe, Peter Cook, Eric Owen Moss, Thom Mayne, Peter Noever, and Wolf Prix of Coop Himmelb(l)au—to share their perspectives and experiences in a discussion led by Anthony Vidler. The full scope of SCI-Arc public programs includes lectures, exhibitions, faculty talks and other opportunities for interaction between the school and the community.

Notable faculty

The following list contains both current and former faculty:

Notable alumni

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thom Mayne</span> American architect

Thom Mayne is an American architect. He is based in Los Angeles. In 1972, Mayne helped found the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), where he is a trustee and the coordinator of the Design of Cities postgraduate program. Since then he has held teaching positions at SCI-Arc, the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He is principal of Morphosis Architects, an architectural firm based in Culver City, California and New York City, New York. Mayne received the Pritzker Architecture Prize in March 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design</span> College of the University of California, Berkeley

The College of Environmental Design, also known as the Berkeley CED, or simply CED, is one of fifteen schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley. The school is located in Bauer Wurster Hall on the southeast corner of the main UC Berkeley campus. It is composed of four departments: the Department of Architecture, the Department of City and Regional Planning, the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, and the Institute of Urban & Regional Development.

The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, is one of the 12 schools within the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) located in Los Angeles, California. Its creation was groundbreaking in that it was the first time a leading university had combined the study of theater, filmmaking and television production into a single administration.

Neil Denari is an American architect, professor, and author based in Los Angeles since 1988. Denari emerged in New York during the 1980s with a series of theoretical projects and texts based on the collapse of the machine aesthetic of Modernism. His office, Neil M. Denari Architects (NMDA) is dedicated to exploring the realms of architecture, design, urbanism, and all aspects of contemporary life. As a teacher for more than 20 years, Denari has held visiting professorships at UC Berkeley, Columbia, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Texas at Arlington. Denari is a tenured professor at UCLA where he has been teaching since 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arts District, Los Angeles</span> Neighborhood of Los Angeles in California, United States

The Arts District is a neighborhood on the eastern edge of Downtown Los Angeles, California in the United States. The city community planning boundaries are Alameda Street on the west which blends into Little Tokyo, First Street on the north, the Los Angeles River to the east, and Violet Street on the south. Largely composed of industrial buildings dating from the early 20th century, the area has recently been revitalized, and its street scene slowly developed in the early 21st century. New art galleries have increased recognition of the area amidst the downtown, which is known for its art museums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Owen Moss</span> American architect (born 1943)

Eric Owen Moss is an American architect based out of Los Angeles. He is the father of American football player Miller Moss.

Ray Kappe was an American architect and educator. In 1972, he resigned his position as Founding Chair of the Department of Architecture at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and along with a group of faculty, students and his wife, Shelly Kappe, started what eventually came to be known as the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). In 2003, Kappe began working with LivingHomes to design modular homes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Fe Freight Depot</span> United States historic place

Santa Fe Freight Depot is a quarter-mile-long building in the industrial area to the east of Downtown Los Angeles, now known as the Arts District. The Southern California Institute of Architecture converted the structure into its campus in 2000. The building's use as a school has helped revitalize a neighborhood previously considered "a gritty corner of downtown".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture</span> Arts school of the University of California, Los Angeles

The UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture is a professional school at the University of California, Los Angeles. Through its four degree-granting departments, it provides a range of course offerings and programs. Additionally, there are eight centers located within the school.

The Cal Poly Pomona College of Environmental Design is a college part of the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. The college houses over 1,600 students; making it one of largest environmental design programs in the United States. The college offers bachelor's degrees in five departments, as well as three master's degree programs. It is the only academic unit within the California State University system to be associated with a Pritzker Prize laureate.

The USC School of Architecture is the architecture school at the University of Southern California. Located in Los Angeles, California, it is one of the university's twenty-two professional schools, offering both undergraduate and graduate degrees in the fields of architecture, building science, landscape architecture and heritage conservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Farrage (designer)</span>

Tom Farrage is a metal fabricator, craftsman and art collector who frequently collaborates with architects, artists, inventors, engineers, and filmmakers. Educated at the Southern California Institute of Architecture(1987), he works in steel, stainless steel, bronze, copper, aluminum; mixed media wood, plastic and glass. He has a long association with what has been called the “L.A. Avant Garde” award-winning architects Thom Mayne, Eric Owen Moss, Michael Rotondi, Craig Hodgetts, Frank Israel and Frank Gehry. He is the owner of Farrage & Company, co-owner of Nakao::Farrage Architects in Culver City, California, and is also the trustee of the Nathan H. Shapira Archives, in Southern California.

72 Market Street Oyster Bar and Grill was a popular Venice, California restaurant founded in 1983 and launched by Tony Bill and Dudley Moore. The small restaurant was a celebrity hot spot which received attention for its food as well as an in house radio talk show and lecture series. It closed in November 2000.

Michele Saee is a Los Angeles–based architect, designer and educator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morphosis Architects</span> American architectural firm

Morphosis Architects is an interdisciplinary architectural and design practice based in Los Angeles and New York City.

Hernán Díaz Alonso is an Argentine-American architect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Wiscombe</span> American architect

Tom Wiscombe is an American architect based in Los Angeles, California. He is the Principal and Founder of Tom Wiscombe Architecture (TWA). Consisting primarily of unbuilt projects, Wiscombe’s work is known for its massing, graphic qualities, and inventiveness, all informed by contemporary ecological thought. His recently released monograph Objects Models Worlds covers his practice and ideas. He was the Chair of the Undergraduate Program at Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), where he taught for over 15 years.

Mimi Zeiger is a Los Angeles–based architecture and design critic, educator, and curator. She is the author of New Museums: Contemporary Museum Architecture Around the World (2005), Tiny Houses, Micro Green: Tiny Houses in Nature, and Tiny Houses in the City. Zeiger was co-curator of the United States pavilion of the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennnale and editor of the accompanying catalogue Dimensions of Citizenship: Architecture and Belonging from the Body to the Cosmos. Her writing about architecture, art, design, and urbanism has appeared in the New York Times, Metropolis, Dwell, Domus, Dezeen, and Architectural Review. She is a graduate of SCI-Arc (MA) and earned her Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cornell University. Zeiger teaches in the Media Design Practices MFA program of the Art Center College of Design and is visiting faculty at the Southern California Institute of Architecture.

Shelly Kappe is an architectural historian and academic who specializes in the residential history of Los Angeles. She was a founding member of the faculty at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), an independent school of architecture created in 1972.

Michael Rotondi is an American architect and educator. He has been a member of two international practices. He attended the Southern California Institute of Architecture when it began (SCI-Arc) in 1972 and, later, was director of the graduate program there.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTURE". California Arts Council. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  2. "Justin McGuirk, "The New LA School", October 2007". IconMagazine. Archived from the original on February 3, 2010.
  3. SCI-Arc at Forty: The Original 'Alternative' Architecture School. SCI-Arc at Forty: The Original 'Alternative' Architecture School 17 Aug 2012. Retrieved 26 Sep 2022.,
  4. 1 2 Vincent, Roger (April 22, 2011). "L.A. architecture school SCI-Arc buys its unorthodox home". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  5. Volume5. 25 Years of SCI-Arc 1990–1997 19 Sep 2007.
  6. Barrie-Anthony, Steven. Landscape of constant change. Los Angeles Times. July 7, 2005. Retrieved 15 January 2007.
  7. 1 2 3 Gelt, Jessica (November 19, 2014). "SCI-Arc's newly announced director sees growth and a global presence". Los Angeles Times . ISSN   0458-3035 . Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  8. Nielson, Christopher. "ArtPlace Announces 47 New Grants". artplaceamerica.org. Archived from the original on June 15, 2012. Retrieved June 14, 2012.
  9. Hawthorne, Christopher (October 10, 2014). "Maltzan's One Santa Fe apartment complex plays with notion of density". Los Angeles Times.
  10. Nielson, Christopher. "2011 Thesis & Graduation Weekend". Archived from the original on January 19, 2012. Retrieved June 14, 2012.
  11. "SCI-Arc Keeps Us Wondering" . Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  12. "Michael Graves College | Kean University" . Retrieved August 12, 2019.