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 Pavillion by SCI–Arc instructor Alexis Rochas | |
| Type | Privatearchitecture school |
|---|---|
| Established | 1972 |
| Director | Winka Dubbeldam |
| Students | 500 |
| Location | ,, United States 34°02′46″N118°14′00″W / 34.045984°N 118.233431°W /34.045984; -118.233431 |
| Campus | Urban |
| Website | sciarc |
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Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) is aprivatearchitecture school inLos Angeles,California.[1] SCI-Arc was founded in 1972 when it was initially regarded as both institutionally and artisticallyavant-garde.[2] It consists of approximately 500 students and 80 faculty members, some of whom are practicingarchitects. It is based in the quarter-mile long (0.40 km) formerSanta Fe Freight Depot in theArts District in downtown Los Angeles. It also offers community events such as outreach programs, free exhibitions, as well as public lectures.[1]
SCI-Arc was founded in 1972 inSanta Monica byRay Kappe,Shelly Kappe, Ahde Lahti,Thom Mayne, Bill Simonian, Glen Small, and James Stafford, a group of faculty from theDepartment of Architecture atCalifornia State Polytechnic University, Pomona.[1] The founders were frustrated with how the administrators at Cal Poly[3] treated the students and faculty members, who 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.[citation needed] Initially, instead of academic hierarchies, the School favored 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 byMichael 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 served as director and chief executive officer effective from 2015-2025.[7] Díaz Alonso has been a faculty member at SCI-Arc since 2001. Prior to his appointment as director, he served as the school's graduate programs chair since 2010.[7] On September 1, 2025 he was succeeded as director and chief executive officer byWinka Dubbeldam.
Although SCI-Arc was once unaccredited and its finances unstable—Moss joked, "We used to be considered one step ahead of theIRS, 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]
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) inMarina del Rey.[citation needed]
In 2001, it moved to its current building, the 60,000-square-foot 1907Santa Fe Freight Depot designed byHarrison Albright on the eastern edge ofDowntown Los Angeles. When SCI-Arc arrived, the building was a stripped-down concrete shell. Today the building is on theNational Register of Historic Places and the school has become an anchor for the city'sArts District.[citation needed]
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 byMichael Maltzan Architecture (MMA) opened in 2014.[9]
SCI-Arc offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs accredited by theNational Architectural Accrediting Board and theWASC Senior College and University Commission, including a five-yearBachelor of Architecture (B.Arch) program, a 3-yearMaster 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.[citation needed]
In addition to its undergraduate and graduate programs, SCI-Arc offers four one-yearpostgraduate programs in fields including architectural technologies, entertainment and fiction,design of cities, and theory andpedagogy.[citation needed]
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, includingPeter Cook,Greg Lynn, andPritzker Prize recipientThom 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]
In the summer of 2009, a program and exhibition titled "LA in Wien/Wien in LA" investigated the architecture of Los Angeles andVienna 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, andWolf Prix ofCoop Himmelb(l)au—to share their perspectives and experiences in a discussion led byAnthony 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.[citation needed]
The following list contains both current and former faculty:
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