SCI-Arc - Southern California Institute of Architecture

CI-ARCSelf Guided Toursciarc.edu

Welcome to SCI-ArcSanta Fe Freight Depot plays the role ofhost to a teeming laboratory of architecturalexperimentation. The structure is a quarter ofa mile long, built in 1907 and inhabited by thenomadic SCI-Arc in 2001. This self-guided touroffers reference points for experiencing theculture and work of SCI-Arc.The long, narrow building is organized withdesign studios on one side and gallery/presentation space on the other. The students’studios extend from one end of the building toother. Each SCI-Arc student has a dedicateddesk/work area. Design studios meet Monday,Wednesday and Friday from 2pm to 7pm. Whenvisiting the building during those times you willsee it filled with the entire faculty and studentbody. You will also see that studios have nohierarchical layout. For example, a freshmandesign studio will sit next to an advancedgraduate studio. This organization allows for thecollaborative cross-pollination deeply valuedby the school.“SCI-Arc is an idea and an ideal.The idea[l] is fragile; at best, it comesand goes. And to characterize it isnot simple. I think we’re after thetension between ways of seeing andthinking. The truth of SCI-Arc is thetension between possibilities. Yourpsychoanalyst may advise you to avoidtension and stress. SCI-Arc, at its best,is the quintessential venue for both.”Eric Owen Moss DIRECTOR

Welcome to SCI-ArcOffice

Graffiti In The Halls,Numbers On The WallsAs you walk through the building, youwill see evidence of the building’shistory. “Will Call” and numbered baysindicate the building’s initial functionas a freight depot. The graffiti you seeon the walls highlights a time whenthe abandoned depot was a graffitidestination. The work of influentialartists like SABER and Revok, recentlyincluded in MOCA’s Art in the Streetsexhibition, can be seen in the hallway.All these aspects of the depot’s historywere intentionally left untouched andintegrated into the environment.

Founding SCI-ArcSCI-Arc was founded in 1972 in SantaMonica by a group of faculty andstudents who wanted to approachthe subject from a more experimentalperspective than traditional schoolsoffered. Originally called the NewSchool, SCI-Arc was based onthe concept of a “college withoutwalls” and it remains one of the fewindependent architecture schoolsin the world. Eric Owen Moss, an AIAFellow and recipient of the RoyalInstitute of British Architects’ JencksWard in 2011, has been SCI-Arc’sdirector since 2002.Kappe Library And The C-HubThe only academic library in SouthernCalifornia focused on architecture, theKappe Library supports architecturalresearch, teaching, and learningat SCI-Arc, with a concentratedcollection maintained by experiencedstaff.The back of the library houses theCentral Hub or “C-Hub.” C-Hub wasdesigned by alumni/faculty HeatherFlood & Ramiro Diaz-Granadosand built with students in the shopfacilities. The table was designed toaccommodate a variety of functionsat SCI-Arc including the board oftrustee meetings, classes and visitorprograms. The table, composed oflayered sheets of plywood, functionslike a cake of cupcakes. Independenttable modules can be moved andreorganized or can be assembled tocreate one large table.

Public Gallery For ExperimentalArchitectureThe SCI-Arc Gallery is the only culturalinstitution in Los Angeles committedto exhibiting experimental projectsby contemporary architects. Theworks created for the space occurat the intersections of architecture,urban planning, design and art. Eachof the SCI-Arc Gallery’s five yearlyexhibitions is executed as a workshopin which students work closely withthe invited architect to assist in thefabrication and installation of theexhibit. There have been 42 exhibitionsin the gallery including:Wolf PrixSteven HollOffice dAJakob + MacFarlaneNeil DenariEisenman ArchitectsA book entitled SCI-Arc Gallery 2002-2010, documenting all the exhibitsfrom those years, is available in ourbookstore.

CantileverThis large-scale cantilever is theproduct of a yearlong seminar calledMaterials Lab. Students elect toparticipate in a two-semester courseas a means to exploring current andemerging materials. Each year, theMaterial Labs is led by a rotatingfaculty member. The Cantileverproject, led by Tom Wiscombe,explores an area of his expertise,composite materials. The hollowform, composed of a resin skin, isstrengthened by fiberglass tape. Thetape acts as a decorative element aswell as structural support.Student VoicesRachel B. B.Arch“SCI-Arc is anything but your typicalarchitecture school. It is its ownculture in itself, from the level of workbeing produced to the studio cultureand the unity and collaborationbetween faculty and students.”

The StepsThe Steps, built in the summer of2012, is an indoor amphitheater.Located in the heart of the school, theopen space with rise-seating is usedfor lectures, performances, symposia,film series and community meetings.

Keck Lecture HallKeck Hall houses the first use ofindustrial felt as a sound mitigationtool. The sound field installation wasdesigned in 2002 by Hodgetts & Fung.Ming Fung is the Academic AffairsDirector at SCI-Arc, and partner atHodgetts & Fung. The Keck installationwas designed before computers werea common architectural tool. Hodgetts& Fung worked physically on a largescale to manipulate and cut the industrialfelt to increase sound absorptionin the space. Faculty member AlexisRochas along with Craig Hodgettsworked with students to install thealuminum framing system and façade.Each semester’s lecture seriesproduces an eclectic selection ofspeakers from multiple disciplines, includingarchitects, artists, filmmakers,engineers, theoreticians, and performers.Speakers are selected by a forumof students, faculty, alumni, and administratorsand the lectures are free.Lectures are often followed by a Q&Adiscussion, allowing students and facultyto interact more personally withthe invited speaker. SCI-Arc lecturesare broadcast live for simultaneousviewing on the internet at SCI-Arc Live.Student VoicesTony M. B.Arch“A SCI-Arc student is SCI-Arc. Nothingmore, nothing less. At SCI-Arc, no styleis out of style, or in style. We’re in acontinuous state of evolution and theschool is no longer today what it wasyesterday.”

Material Strategies for thePhysical WorldEntering freshman to SCI-Arc’sBachelor of Architecture programimmediately confront the challengesof form, material, site and teamworkin the program’s 1A project – MaterialStrategies for the Physical World.Working through a set of incrementalexercises, students producestudies culminating in a full scale,collaboratively constructed projectto be installed in the school. Other 1Aprojects are dispersed throughoutthe building.

Robot HouseAccelerating SCI-Arc’s pace, alreadyat the leading edge of digital designand rapid prototyping, the new SCI-ArcRobot House builds upon the school’sstrengths to create a next generationplatform for experimentationand speculation on the future ofarchitecture.The lab focuses on multi-robotcooperation and collaborationusing six state-of-the-art Staüblirobotic systems. Students lead theexperimentation by designing andbuilding a tool attachment whichgives the robot a specific function.The tool then requires student createdprogramming to instruct the motionpath of the robot. Each studentexperiment establishes a conceptwithin the lab’s nascent specializedvernacular.

Fabrication ShopThe 5,000-square-foot facility plays anintegral role in student work, supportinghands-on experimentation withmaterials and construction. It includesa machining room, model-makingshop, bench room, metalworking areaand assembly spaces. Students haveaccess to a variety of hand and powertools along with instruction and facilitiesfor model making, furniture making,industrial design and aluminumfoundry casting.CNC/Digital Fabrication FacilitiesSCI-Arc is equipped with some ofthe most advanced digital fabricationmachines available. Tools includecomputer numerical controlled (CNC)machinery directed specifically towardsarchitecture and design—lasercutters, a vacuum-former, 3-axis millingmachine, and 3D printing stationscapable of sculpting surfaces in avariety of materials, including wood,plastic and metal, from CAD and CAMfiles. All of the CNC machinery interfaceswith the most current industrystandard software and protocols.

Alumni AffairsSCI-Arc has been educating architects,designers, and planners whowork on the cutting edge of their professionsto reimagine and shape theworld in which we live. SCI-Arc graduatesare part of a global communityof alumni, faculty and friends whostay connected to the school throughevents, lectures, exhibitions, and continuingeducation opportunities thathappen around the world.To provide career support foralumni and students, the AlumniCouncil hosts Open Season, a seriesof career networking events created toconnect SCI-Arc alumni and professionalpartners in the architecture anddesign field to SCI-Arc students. Thesedrop-in, day-long events invite potentialemployers to observe, and potentiallyrecruit, SCI-Arc students as theypresent their studio and thesis work tofaculty and jurors for academic review.

Thank you for visitingSCI-Arc.Our lecture series,gallery events andstudent reviews are opento the public. We inviteyou to attend our events.• Private, nonprofit college of architecture founded in 1972• Ranked 2nd by Design Intelligence in design and computerapplications• Renowned for design focused architectural innovation• World’s first multi-robot lab in a school of architecture• Student to faculty ratio 15 to 1• Hands-on studio based curriculum• 250 undergraduate students• 250 graduate students• Degrees offered: Bachelor of Architecture, Master ofArchitecture, Master of Design Research• Summer programs: Design Immersion Days–for high schoolstudents; Making+Meaning–college level introductionto Architecture• Job placement and career services• NAAB and WASC accredited• Annual full-time tuition $34,000• 67% of students receive financial aidsciarc.edu