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10/01/2009
The USC School of Architecture Student Receives Design Award
September 24, 2009, Los Angeles University of Southern California (USC) School of Architecture undergraduate student Andrew Kim is the recipient of a 2009 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Student Citation for Design Award from the AIA Pasadena & Foothill Chapter. Andrew’s Boyle Heights Civic Center Project was assigned in the School of Architecture’s 3rd Year Design Studio class of spring 2009. Professor John Enright was the instructor for the course. The awards will be presented at a banquet on October 1.
According to Professor Enright the spring 3rd year design studio aims to have students pull together all of their prior knowledge and experience into a single design project, responsive to formal and contextual issues, technical and regulatory requirements, while being developed to a high degree. For this semester the project was a neighborhood civic center, which mandated a definite civic presence.
Andrew’s design for a Civic Center in the Boyle Heights community of Los Angeles is successful in the way it encourages public life to exist and flourish. He has situated the building adjacent to a public park and plaza and designed the building with multiple lobbies and wide hallways that encourage socialization and circulation. He deals with severe western and southern natural lighting by shrouding the parts of the building that are most affected with a skin comprised of photovoltaic glass which provides shading and energy to supply the building. The photovoltaic glass panels become less dense where there are critical apertures so they don’t impede the view.
About his own project Andrew says, “Architecture is at its strongest and purest form when it performs beyond the required program functions. The Boyle Heights Civic Center does just that…engaging the public in a seamless integration that optimizes the usage of the site.”
The Pasadena & Foothill Chapter of the American Institute of Architects is a professional organization that serves the local architect, promotes architecture and the built environment within the Chapter’s boundaries, provides resources to the community for professional development and education, and serves as a vital link to local allied professionals as well as other Chapter components of the AIA. The Pasadena & Foothill AIA Design Awards program provides a forum to celebrate design excellence and innovation.
The USC School of Architecture is located in the heart of Los Angeles, a singular laboratory in which to study and understand urban conditions and their architectural implications. With the appointment of Dean Qingyun Ma the School extends its global reach into new territories, launching new initiatives in cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary discourses, strengthening ties in the community and around the world. Established in 1919, the USC School of Architecture was the first of its kind in Southern California. Educational offerings include architecture, landscape architecture, building science and historic preservation. Among its notable graduates are Conrad Buff III, Donald H. Hensman, Pierre Koenig, and two Pritzker Prize Laureates: Frank O. Gehry (1989) and Thom Mayne (2005).
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September 24, 2009
Jane A. Ilger ilger@usc.edu 213 740 2092
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