USC School of Architecture

Games Played by Aliya Formeloza and Jianghui (Jack) Qu from the Vertical studio: The Money Train: The Last Mile taught by Kevin Sherrod. The Game of LA Life explores what it means to design safe spaces for adults and children to learn, gather, play, and rest. Drawn from the rich heritage of Los Angeles, the project uses cultural artifacts and nostalgic board games to invite curiosity and community engagement. It creates an immersive experience to explore the diverse communities of each city district while engaging in meaningful learning. Beyond the game, the project uses playfulness as a tool for building a collaborative environment where the community can engage in mutual support, creative exchange, and sharing resources and services—reflecting the spirit of L.A. "The Money Train: The Last Mile" introduces an innovative approach to upcycling Los Angeles's Metro rail system by utilizing it as both a transportation resource for commuters and a food delivery network. This semester, the studio is focusing on the "last mile" of metro users' journeys, investigating what goods, services, and programs can enhance the travel experience for commuters as they head home. #USCArch #USCArchitecture #USCArchitectureStudentWork

PLAYxBOOKo: Revitalizing a Church as a Community Playground by Delaney Ryan & Christopher Paliungas from the Vertical studio: The Money Train: The Last Mile taught by Kevin Sherrod. In a community with a significant lack of open park space and recreation opportunities, this project reimagines the vacant Heavenly Vision Church as an interior playscape. Inspired by the X’s and O’s of childhood games and sports playbooks, the forms encourage kids to interact, explore, and play. The house shapes reflect the surrounding neighborhood, positioning the space as an extension of the community. Similarly, many of the main iconic church elements were retained, such as the arched opening and stained-glass windows, to maintain its status as a central gathering space and symbol of togetherness in the community. "The Money Train: The Last Mile" introduces an innovative approach to upcycling Los Angeles's Metro rail system by utilizing it as both a transportation resource for commuters and a food delivery network. This semester, the studio is focusing on the "last mile" of metro users' journeys, investigating what goods, services, and programs can enhance the travel experience for commuters as they head home. #USCArch #USCArchitecture #USCArchitectureStudentWork

Thank you to all who joined us for the Graduate Open House! Prospective students learned more about our unique interdisciplinary programs in architecture, building science, landscape + urbanism, and heritage conservation! They were able to chat with graduate program directors and take a tour of student work, studios, and USC campus ?? The academic programs at the USC School of Architecture give students numerous degree options to best pursue their individual interests and goals. Students complete courses in theory and history alongside hands-on studio courses and fieldwork in robust, interactive learning environments. #USCArch #USCArchitecture

The Material Acts symposium, hosted this weekend at USC Architecture, brought together artists, designers and architects from across the globe who presented their work in material processes and systems. The symposium is part of Material Acts: Experimentation in Architecture and Design, an exhibition that is currently at the Craft Contemporary until January 5, 2025. Practitioners working across organizational scales and sites of production led discussions about the social, political, and infrastructural networks behind a material’s making. We heard from speakers Charlotte Malterre-Barthes (ETH Lausanne) Anupama Kundoo, Anupama Kundoo Architects Katie MacDonald, After Architecture Meredith Miller, Post Rock Daniel Bell, Atelier LUMA Ben Loescher, Adobeisnotsoftware Christine Yogiaman, Yogiaman Tracy Design Matthias Kohler, Gramazio Kohler Research Thanks to our partners @craftcontemporary @harvey_mudd @pstinla and organizers Kate Yeh Chiu (USC) and Jia Yi Gu (HMC).

Join us on Tuesday, November 26 for the Design Professional Series. 9:30am at Wong Conference Center (Harris 101) USC School of Architecture. Gain valuable knowledge from experts at leading firms, as they share their journey, creative process, and vision for the evolving design landscape. Join us as we dive into the future of architectural design, with insights from top industry leaders from Gensler, SOM, Perkind&Willl, RIOS and POPUlOUS who are shaping the built environment. Don’t miss this opportunity to connect, learn, and get inspired! #USCArchitecture #USCArchitectureEvents

Yesterday at the ACLA 2x8 Awards, hosted at AIA’s new HQ, Adrian Aranda and Justin Zhu, both USC Architecture 5th year students, won a scholarship for their project "The Digester." They developed the project last year in a studio led by faculty Lawrence Scarpa. The Digester is a environmental center located on the strange and inhospitable site located in between the Marina Freeway and the Pacific Coast Highway. The project carves out the site in order to collect runoff water before it enters the Pacific Ocean via the adjacent Marina del Rey. By collecting this runoff water the Digester can cleanse the dirty water while also retaining it in the landscape’s soil in order to restore a portion of the natural wetlands. 2×8 is an annual program that connects university-level architecture programs with the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry. The 2×8 event is simultaneously as a design competition, student exhibit and scholarship fund. Every year, the exhibit showcases exemplary student work from architecture & design institutions across California. The competition jury was Barbara Bouza, Trevor Abramson, and Thom Mayne. It was organized by 2x8 Alicia Morales and Marco Marraccini. #USCArchitectureStudents #USCArchitectureAwards

Join us this Friday, November 22nd for Anupama Kundoo's lecture "Rethinking Materiality: Natural resources and human resourcefulness." https://bit.ly/3BPE9ad Our built environment is the physical stage on which all human stories are lived out. This physical stage is the historical and ongoing manifestation of human imagination operating within real (or, imaginary!) constraints. Anupama Kundoo advances the idea that architectural imagination must transcend design and enter the realms of materials science and economics where some of the bigger questions reside. She will discuss the thrust of her inquiries which have been to find practical ways to fulfill the universal human aspiration for refuge, purpose, and social engagement through extensive material research and experimentation. She will discuss 'Human Time as a Resource' in the quest for new materiality and critically examine the way the time value of money has nudged us towards code-based design and the industrialized production of building components and, sometimes, even entire buildings themselves. She will discuss materiality and consumption of finite natural resources alongside their impact on human wellbeing and human resourcefulness. The act of building produces knowledge just as the resulting knowledge produces buildings. #USCArchitecture #USCArchitectureLectures #USCArchitectureEvents

Have you signed up to attend the Graduate Open House this Saturday? Come join us on Saturday, November 23 for our Fall Graduate Open House on campus at USC School of Architecture. RSVP is required https://bit.ly/4frZDsk Learn about our graduate programs in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Building Science & Heritage Conservation and meet program directors, faculty & students. The schedule includes an exhibit projects and tour our studios, buildings & campus. Stay afterwards and catch some of our day-long Materials Acts symposium featuring a roster of international architects & designers. Open House Schedule 10.00am - Registration & Coffee in Watt Courtyard 11.15am - Welcome & School Introduction 11.30am - Program Introductions by Directors 12.10pm - Program Studio Tours 12.30pm - Meet with Current Faculty & Students 1.00pm - Lunch & USC Campus Tour (optional)

Such an insightful presentation by faculty Lawrence Scarpa who talked about the focus of his latest book Salty Urbanism. Addressing very current and pressing issues, Salty Urbanism is an exhibition of research that examines the wicked problem of sea level rise and flooding in coastal cities. It presents research models that accommodate a variety of best management practices (BMP), low impact development (LID), green infrastructure (GI), and other alternative concepts to be implemented over time in the neighborhood adaptation plan. Lawrence Scarpa has garnered international acclaim for the creative use of conventional materials in unique and unexpected ways. He is also considered a pioneer and leader in the field of sustainable design. #Brooks_Scarpa #USCArchitectureFaculty #USCArchitectureLecture

Join us on Saturday, November 23rd for Material Acts! https://bit.ly/4heIp35 Material Acts is a symposium that brings together artists, designers, and architects experimenting with material processes and systems. Against the backdrop of accelerating environmental degradation, architectural practices such as Anupama Kundoo, Charlotte Malterre-Barthes, Post Rock, and Emerging Objects challenge traditional modes of building (and making), by framing materials as a chain of operations, rather than fixed objects. Understanding materials as process-based events with human actors, rather than artifacts found in stasis, this symposium on new materials explores the rich milieu of ideas that accompany their making, including practices in bioregional design, waste economies, and living systems, alongside perspectives of care, constraint, and regeneration. Organized in partnership with Craft Contemporary, University of Southern California School of Architecture and Harvey Mudd College. #USCArchitecture #CraftContemporary #HarveyMuddCollege #USCSchoolOfArchitecture