CITIZEN
ARCHITECT
03/15/19
The USC Architecture Faculty/Student Exhibition Series is an exhibition program that profiles the work of a faculty member along with a selection of ...
02/27/19
In honor of this month’s third annual Generation NEXT, a celebration of independent design work from recent USC Architecture alumni, we’re ...
02/27/19
The USC School of Architecture and the USC Architectural Guild have selected Victor MacFarlane as the 2019 Distinguished Business Leadership Award ...
We are educating citizen architects — capacious makers and thinkers who see the world through the prism of architecture thinking and view their role in the world as activists.
Dean Milton S.F. Curry
School of Architecture
School of Architecture
@USCARCHITECTURE
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Repost from first-year B.Arch student @dqvofficial: Here’s an interior shot along with elevations of my final project for project 1 of my second semester of first year architecture. Our focus this semester so far has been analysis and design, beginning from a study of caves, to a study of huts, and finally a study of tents. Within my final design, I continued a story involving the collaboration of different structures, shapes, and claddings that don’t necessarily function off each other, but inhabit the same space. Everything within my design centers around the concept of folding, be it with the foldings of cubes, the folding of waves, or the folding of crease patterns on a folded pyramid. I loved this project as I had to learn to push myself out of my comfort to form abstract designs and concepts. The graphic seen on the interior shot and elevations is a crease pattern for an origami angel I designed a while back, something I found added to the overall expression of my design.
It’s spring break so we’re checking in with our students studying abroad in Italy. The program recently visited Vicenza with Federica Marchetti. Highlights included Andrea Palladio's suburban villas, including Villa Rotunda and Villa Maser; the Brion Family Tomb, designed by Carlo Scarpa, which reflects his appreciation for Japanese architecture; and the Praglia Abbey, where students received a historical tour from one of the abbey monks. The Praglia Abbey library, pictured in this post, is decorated with a Renaissance-style ceiling and currently has 100,000 texts in 15 different languages.
To celebrate #internationalwomensday, we donned “masks” of 100+ women from the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, building science and heritage conservation from the past 100 years.✌🏻
#tbt to first-year case study models from our graduate landscape architecture program.
#uscarchitecture #usc #landscapearchitecture #casestudy #architecturemodel #architectureschool #la #losangeles #studentwork #design #designschool
In this week’s edition of #TravelTuesday, our students studying abroad in Italy have spent the past two weeks visiting Rome/Tivoli and Venice. Highlights have included the Villa Adriana and Villa D'Este in Tivoli, two villas erected at different time periods, and the contemporary architecture of Zaha Hadid's MAXXI museum. In Venice, students explored the works of Carlo Scarpa, Andrea Palladio's basilicas, and Venice Carnevale.
We’re halfway through the spring semester! Here, M.Arch student @_eadoyle shares drawings from her mid review of her Leimert Park multigenerational housing project.
Happy 90th birthday to alumnus Frank Gehry (B.Arch ‘54)! Your creativity and innovation continue to inspire us. 📷: Carol M. Highsmith
About last night...
This year’s Generation NEXT alumni presenters were incredible! Thanks for sharing your stories with our students and USC Architecture community, and thanks @goldencuev and @myrnaayoub for coordinating.
Now on view in Watt Hall is faculty member James Diewald’s student/faculty exhibition, “Practical Grounds,” which examines contemporary trajectories of the metropolitan ground in teaching and practice. Student work is presented alongside a selection of large-scale commissions that operate between architectural and urban form. The work raises questions about the nature of public space, the role of landscape in urban environments, and the agency of the architect in development-driven projects.
Our third annual Generation NEXT, a celebration of independent design work from recent alumni, is this Weds., Feb. 27! Here are this year’s presenters. Be sure to RSVP for the reception at bit.ly/gennext19
B.Arch student Taylor Abbott created FLOAT (Flexible Land on Aquatic Terrain) for his ARCH 402A topic design studio with Geoffrey von Oeyen last semester. This FRP (Fiber Reinforced Polymer) constructed housing system is a step toward floating architecture to address the housing crisis. Creating a modular system out of this light and affordable material allows designers to ditch conventional building materials for a more affordable breed. The system itself is quite simple and offers a plug-and-play construction method out of panelized units. Customization allows for variation in the units, creating a compelling facade seen from 360 degrees. Developing land on the water is the future of design and will challenge architects everywhere to create spectacular projects.
#Repost from faculty member @eekstudio
・・・
Teaching something a little different this semester at @uscarchitecture. Based on a premise from a research seminar led by @laurelconsuelobroughton last fall, my degree project students are exploring intersections of art, architecture, and food. For their first project they designed and “performed” portable meal kits to delightful results.
Students currently studying abroad in Italy recently visited Urbino to study Giancarlo di Carlo architecture. Highlights included a visit to the Sassocorvaro Fortezza, a palazzo typology within a fortress shaped like a turtle, and Villa Giancarlo, the only villa ever designed by the renowned Italian architect.
Today would have been the 125th birthday of USC Architecture alum Paul Revere Williams, the first black member and fellow of the American Institute of Architects. In addition to his 1940s redesign of the Beverly Hills Hotel, he is known for his work designing homes for celebrities like Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, and Desi Arnaz. 📷: @bevhillshotel
We’re thrilled to announce two award recipients for this year's 60th Annual USC Architectural Guild Dinner! Corinne Verdery will receive the 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award and Gin D. Wong will receive the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously. This year’s dinner will take place on April 24 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Visit arch.usc.edu for more information.
Ciao! Our latest #TravelTuesday dispatch comes from Matera, Italy, where our students currently studying abroad recently visited. The Sassi historical center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“Portraits in Partition,” our second exhibition in this semester’s Faculty/Student Exhibition Series, features work from Myrna Ayoub and her ARCH 102 studio. The faculty exhibit looks at two neighboring countries—Syria and Lebanon—through methods of cartographic analysis and photo collage to portray the manifestation of identity, territory, and culture within a space of conflict. The photographs and data have been collected over the past five years to understand the forces of conflict within the region and the challenges they place on the development of urban environments across several scales. This exhibition is on view in the Watt Hall 2nd Floor gallery through Feb. 23.
#Repost @synthesisdna: Insane student work by @christie_deer in the graduate design studio at @uscarchitecture taught by @yaohuaw of @preliminary_research_office.
It’s #traveltuesday! Students in our Italy study abroad program visited the Vatican and Castel Sant’Angelo this week. Stay tuned for more updates throughout their semester abroad.
A #tbt #Repost from @morof_nick
・・・
Honored to receive the “Best Overall Project” award for my proposal for a mass timber mid-rise in the Arts District restricted to a 4500sf footprint!
The design interrupts the closed store front typology of the area by opening the first 2 floors for public use as well as restaurant and store concept-testing space for future tenants.
The structural grid is informed by the street that runs perpendicular to the site. The design utilizes a stacking structural system and prismatic column profiles to enable equal contact with the beams at top and bottom.
The core is a long tube located on the East facade sacrificing the morning sun during non-office hours and anticipating building-height increases surrounding the site in future years. The continuous tube of CLT also provides significant structural stability to the building. The second set of egress is located on the Southwest corner of the building and doubles as a social balcony space with views of DTLA for coffee breaks and meetings.
More to come!
@USCARCHITECTURE
←
→
Repost from first-year B.Arch student @dqvofficial: Here’s an interior shot along with elevations of my final project for project 1 of my second semester of first year architecture. Our focus this semester so far has been analysis and design, beginning from a study of caves, to a study of huts, and finally a study of tents. Within my final design, I continued a story involving the collaboration of different structures, shapes, and claddings that don’t necessarily function off each other, but inhabit the same space. Everything within my design centers around the concept of folding, be it with the foldings of cubes, the folding of waves, or the folding of crease patterns on a folded pyramid. I loved this project as I had to learn to push myself out of my comfort to form abstract designs and concepts. The graphic seen on the interior shot and elevations is a crease pattern for an origami angel I designed a while back, something I found added to the overall expression of my design.
It’s spring break so we’re checking in with our students studying abroad in Italy. The program recently visited Vicenza with Federica Marchetti. Highlights included Andrea Palladio's suburban villas, including Villa Rotunda and Villa Maser; the Brion Family Tomb, designed by Carlo Scarpa, which reflects his appreciation for Japanese architecture; and the Praglia Abbey, where students received a historical tour from one of the abbey monks. The Praglia Abbey library, pictured in this post, is decorated with a Renaissance-style ceiling and currently has 100,000 texts in 15 different languages.
To celebrate #internationalwomensday, we donned “masks” of 100+ women from the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, building science and heritage conservation from the past 100 years.✌🏻
#tbt to first-year case study models from our graduate landscape architecture program.
#uscarchitecture #usc #landscapearchitecture #casestudy #architecturemodel #architectureschool #la #losangeles #studentwork #design #designschool
In this week’s edition of #TravelTuesday, our students studying abroad in Italy have spent the past two weeks visiting Rome/Tivoli and Venice. Highlights have included the Villa Adriana and Villa D'Este in Tivoli, two villas erected at different time periods, and the contemporary architecture of Zaha Hadid's MAXXI museum. In Venice, students explored the works of Carlo Scarpa, Andrea Palladio's basilicas, and Venice Carnevale.
We’re halfway through the spring semester! Here, M.Arch student @_eadoyle shares drawings from her mid review of her Leimert Park multigenerational housing project.
Happy 90th birthday to alumnus Frank Gehry (B.Arch ‘54)! Your creativity and innovation continue to inspire us. 📷: Carol M. Highsmith
About last night...
This year’s Generation NEXT alumni presenters were incredible! Thanks for sharing your stories with our students and USC Architecture community, and thanks @goldencuev and @myrnaayoub for coordinating.
Now on view in Watt Hall is faculty member James Diewald’s student/faculty exhibition, “Practical Grounds,” which examines contemporary trajectories of the metropolitan ground in teaching and practice. Student work is presented alongside a selection of large-scale commissions that operate between architectural and urban form. The work raises questions about the nature of public space, the role of landscape in urban environments, and the agency of the architect in development-driven projects.
Our third annual Generation NEXT, a celebration of independent design work from recent alumni, is this Weds., Feb. 27! Here are this year’s presenters. Be sure to RSVP for the reception at bit.ly/gennext19
B.Arch student Taylor Abbott created FLOAT (Flexible Land on Aquatic Terrain) for his ARCH 402A topic design studio with Geoffrey von Oeyen last semester. This FRP (Fiber Reinforced Polymer) constructed housing system is a step toward floating architecture to address the housing crisis. Creating a modular system out of this light and affordable material allows designers to ditch conventional building materials for a more affordable breed. The system itself is quite simple and offers a plug-and-play construction method out of panelized units. Customization allows for variation in the units, creating a compelling facade seen from 360 degrees. Developing land on the water is the future of design and will challenge architects everywhere to create spectacular projects.
#Repost from faculty member @eekstudio
・・・
Teaching something a little different this semester at @uscarchitecture. Based on a premise from a research seminar led by @laurelconsuelobroughton last fall, my degree project students are exploring intersections of art, architecture, and food. For their first project they designed and “performed” portable meal kits to delightful results.
Students currently studying abroad in Italy recently visited Urbino to study Giancarlo di Carlo architecture. Highlights included a visit to the Sassocorvaro Fortezza, a palazzo typology within a fortress shaped like a turtle, and Villa Giancarlo, the only villa ever designed by the renowned Italian architect.
Today would have been the 125th birthday of USC Architecture alum Paul Revere Williams, the first black member and fellow of the American Institute of Architects. In addition to his 1940s redesign of the Beverly Hills Hotel, he is known for his work designing homes for celebrities like Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, and Desi Arnaz. 📷: @bevhillshotel
We’re thrilled to announce two award recipients for this year's 60th Annual USC Architectural Guild Dinner! Corinne Verdery will receive the 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award and Gin D. Wong will receive the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously. This year’s dinner will take place on April 24 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Visit arch.usc.edu for more information.
Ciao! Our latest #TravelTuesday dispatch comes from Matera, Italy, where our students currently studying abroad recently visited. The Sassi historical center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“Portraits in Partition,” our second exhibition in this semester’s Faculty/Student Exhibition Series, features work from Myrna Ayoub and her ARCH 102 studio. The faculty exhibit looks at two neighboring countries—Syria and Lebanon—through methods of cartographic analysis and photo collage to portray the manifestation of identity, territory, and culture within a space of conflict. The photographs and data have been collected over the past five years to understand the forces of conflict within the region and the challenges they place on the development of urban environments across several scales. This exhibition is on view in the Watt Hall 2nd Floor gallery through Feb. 23.
#Repost @synthesisdna: Insane student work by @christie_deer in the graduate design studio at @uscarchitecture taught by @yaohuaw of @preliminary_research_office.
It’s #traveltuesday! Students in our Italy study abroad program visited the Vatican and Castel Sant’Angelo this week. Stay tuned for more updates throughout their semester abroad.
A #tbt #Repost from @morof_nick
・・・
Honored to receive the “Best Overall Project” award for my proposal for a mass timber mid-rise in the Arts District restricted to a 4500sf footprint!
The design interrupts the closed store front typology of the area by opening the first 2 floors for public use as well as restaurant and store concept-testing space for future tenants.
The structural grid is informed by the street that runs perpendicular to the site. The design utilizes a stacking structural system and prismatic column profiles to enable equal contact with the beams at top and bottom.
The core is a long tube located on the East facade sacrificing the morning sun during non-office hours and anticipating building-height increases surrounding the site in future years. The continuous tube of CLT also provides significant structural stability to the building. The second set of egress is located on the Southwest corner of the building and doubles as a social balcony space with views of DTLA for coffee breaks and meetings.
More to come!