SCI-Arc: The Latest Architecture and News

SCI-Arc‘s introduction of the Robot House (spring 2011) – a multifunctional robotics lab that enables the exploration of advanced fabrication techniques, manipulation of high tech materials, and numerous methods for simulation – has brought about a new and intriguing component to the school. Designed by faculty members Peter Testa and Devyn Weiser, its primary goal is the advancement of next generation platforms for the experimentation and future speculation of architecture.

SCI-Arc, Los Angeles’ cutting edge architectural institute, has just announced Thom Mayne as the newest Trustee of the board. Mayne’s addition to the board emphasizes SCI-Arc’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of traditional architectural form and theory. Back in 1972, Mayne co-founded the institute along with seven faculty members and approximately forty students who left Cal Poly Pomona to form a “a college without walls.” For the past nearly four decades, Mayne has been an integral part of the university, serving as a juror, lecturer and generous supporter of the school. ”Thom Mayne is the quintessential SCI-Arc architect. His addition to the board is indicative of the fact that SCI-Arc continues to re-imagine the content of architecture,” said Director Eric Owen Moss. According to SCI-Arc, this appointment complements a series of events that have prompted the school’s growth both physically and programmatically.

“Material beyond Materials: A Composite Tectonics Conference on Advanced Materials and Digital Manufacturing” combines progressive presentations in the fields of architecture, the arts, engineering and materials research. The conference participants will present and discuss their most innovative ideas, projects and positions concerning materials, technology and the impact on the architecture and construction disciplines and professions.

Immuring, a new exhibition by Hong Kong-based architecture firm davidclovers, will be on view from June 4 through July 18, 2010, in the SCI-Arc Gallery at the Southern California Institute of Architecture. Immuring invigorates the relationship between architectural graphic and architectural mass through the re-examination of fresco in a contemporary context.

The Southern California Institute of Architecture is pleased to present London Eight, curated by renowned English architect Sir Peter Cook. London Eight presents three main exhibitors, teachers from the Bartlett School of Architecture in London chosen by Peter Cook, each of whom have nominated a ‘new face’ exhibitor.

At the beginning of the summer we visited SYNTHe, a urban rooftop garden designed and built by professor Alexis Rocha (I/O Platform founder) with SCI-Arc students.

The SYNTHe project is a 3,000sqf structure located on the top of The Flat, a mid rise residential building in downtown Los Angeles, and its the first green garden approved by city official. The idea of this “green blanket” over at the top of the building is to reduce the building heat gain, reduce storm water waste (80% is captured and used for irrigation) and to establish a sustainable plant ecosystem that collaborated with air pollutants filtering. It also reclaims the rooftop area from HVAC, ventilation and fire control systems, giving a new terrace for the users of the building.

Inside this blanket, 1,500sqf are dedicated to the production of edible plant species, and we had the chance to taste them at the restaurant during lunch, very good. The species planted include:

Several summer lectures and one exhibition will take place at SCI-Arc, starting July 15 till August 5. The lectures start tomorrow with Peter Cook, a noted English architect, writer, and educator who was a founding member of Archigram in the 1960′s. Peter Cook: Hard and Soft will take place at 7pm at W. M. Keck Lecture Hall.