Sarah Cowles led a seminar: “Sylviculture: metaphor, narrative and aesthetics in forest gardens” at the Harvard Forest in Petersham Massachusetts in October. Recent publications include “All that and more”  and “Propagating an idea” in recent issues of Landscape Architecture Magazine. “The Low-Flow”, a series of drawings on the Arroyo Seco Channel, was published in Art Papers magazine. 

Professor Marc Schiler was interviewed by the Los Angeles Times and by Curbed LA regarding the glare reflected from the new Wilshire Grand project, by A C Martin.  Schiler is an expert in solar convergence and glare, having solved the issues with the Walt Disney Concert Hall and having consulted on buildings such as the Ping An Financial Center in Shenzhen, China, the Lumina Foundation in Arles, France, the Lewis Science Library at Princeton University and many other buildings, which have, as a result, NOT been featured in articles about problems with glare.   Los Angeles Times, “The glass on the Wilshire Grand is creating too much glare, says one neighbor who wants the project halted,” by Hugo Martin, November 16, 2016,  http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-wilshire-grand-glass-20161116-story.html

Curbed Los Angeles, “Why the Wilshire Grand won’t shoot a ‘death ray’: It’s wrapped in a glass that generated a “death ray” on the Vegas Strip, by Jenna Chandler, November 17, 2016
http://la.curbed.com/2016/11/17/13631998/wilshire-grand-glass-death-ray-glare 

Rob Berry presented “The City is in the Details”, a lecture on his recent work, at East Los Angeles College as part of their Fall 2016 Architecture Department Lecture Series.

Kelly Shannon was a jury member of the International Landscape Design Competition for the Han River, Da Nanang City, Vietnam in November 2016. There were two second places (OMG, Belgium and CPG, Singapore) and two third (Deso, France and Nikken Sekkei, Japan) places awarded. 

Karen M. Kensek and Douglas Noble organized the Facade Tectonics 2016 World Congress in October with nearly 500 attendees from around the world. Noble also served as a reviewer at Cal Poly Pomona in October.

Associate Professor Chuck Lagreco organized a trip to 5th year studio to San Francisco to for his studio team in Fall 2016.

Mina Chow AIA Senior Lecture lectured on architecture and cultural diplomacy with Visiting Senior Scholar Conrad Turner, U.S. Public Diplomat in Residence at the USC Annenberg Master on Public Diplomacy program with presentation of her work-in-progress documentary “FACE OF A NATION:  What Happened at the World’s Fair?”

Jennifer Park received the campus-wide “Staff Recognition Award” from the University of Southern California in November 2016.  The University recognizes one staff member every month, and must select from among more than 13,000 staff members.

Brendan Shea led a workshop as part of Roundhouse at Taylor Yard, a project of USC Roski Curatorial Practices and the Public Sphere. The workshop, entitled “Surveying The Land”, explored architecture’s history, disappearance, and ruin at Taylor Yard through documentation of site in various media.

Alvin Huang and his firm Synthesis Design + Architecture were recently honored with a number of awards from the American Institute of Architects. At the annual AIA Los Angeles Design Awards, SDA received the 2016 AIA Los Angeles Presidential Honoree Emerging Practice Award, the highest honor the AIA|LA can bestow upon an emerging practice for consistent innovation in practice. SDA also received an AIA|LA Design Award Citation for the their Pure Tension Pavilion. At the AIA California Council Leadership Summit, Alvin Huang received the 2016 AIA California Council Young Architect Award which honors individuals who have shown exceptional leadership and made significant contributions to the profession in an early stage of their architectural career.

Hadrian Predock lectured about his work at Cal Poly Pomona on October 21st. He conducted a workshop and also delivered a lecture at the UNLV architecture school on October 8-10. He served as a juror on the 2016 Ohio AIA design awards.