100 Years of Architecture at USC!  2014 marks the exciting milestone of educating the 100th class of students at USC Architecture. These 100 classes have produced more than 5,000 alumni who are advancing modernism, prefabrication, sustainability and urban design. The students in these 100 classes have been mentored by faculty members who are leaders in modern architectural design, construction and conservation excellence, and who have developed a multidisciplinary perspective on the design of projects in urban settings. USC Architecture is proud to have been the first accredited architecture school in Southern California, and the first in the west to teach a curriculum focusing on modernism, highlighted by a faculty supporting the Case Study House Program through teaching, research and practice. To commemorate the centennial, 2014 will be marked by several once-in-a-century events, including a lecture series, special scholarship announcements and the launch of a fundraising campaign. USC Architecture is known for real-time design, focused on the now. Our centennial is another opportunity to move from thinking to building, from students to leaders and from Los Angeles to the world. These concepts will guide us as we begin our next 100 years.

Hraztan Zeitlian’s work as Director of Design at DLR for the LAUSD Edward R Roybal Learning Center High School was used as a setting for the VW GTI TV AD with Michael Ballack during FIFA World Cup, shown on ESPN2 TV Channel.

http://www.ispot.tv/ad/7Dvt/2014-volkswagen-golf-gti-greatest-hits-featuring-michael-ballack

 

Prof. Emeritus Roger Sherwood continues to add to his website on “Modern Housing Prototypes.”  The HousingPrototypes.org website now contains hundreds of buildings, and includes detailed descriptions, drawings, photos and much more.  Most building types can be readily researched in books and magazines. Because of the large worldwide production and very dynamic nature of housing construction, however, it is very difficult to track new developments in housing design. Books quickly obsolesce and few libraries have the resources to even subscribe to the range of periodicals necessary to track new developments. The advantage of web-based material is that it offers a dynamic database accessible by anyone with a computer. It can be periodically revised and thus allows the researcher to continually update their knowledge about a particular subject. HousingPrototypes.org was conceived to fill the need for a dynamic, interactive database about housing. It provides the research instrument to monitor research about historic and new developments in the field of international multi-family housing. The current phase of construction provides data on an international selection of both new and old housing projects of the past century or so. New case studies will be frequently and continually added.  HousingPrototypes.org is published free on the Internet as an information service.

 

New faculty teaching in the USC School of Architecture this semester include Marwan Al-Sayed, Sofia Borges, Tina Chee, Stephen Deters, Ian Dickenson, Steven Ehrlich, Maria Esnaola, Ryan Guitierrez, Karen Janosky, Erin Kasimow, David Maestres, Michael McGowan, Andrew Watkins, and Takashi Yanai.

The USC School of Architecture will host the fifth annual Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute on September 16-18. Sponsored by Enterprise Community Partners, the Institute brings together a team of designers (including USC faculty member Lorcan O’Herlihy) and a team of non-profit developers who each present a project in the schematic design phase for feedback. This year’s theme is “Sustainable, Connected Communities, ” addressing best practices in community design and how L.A. can become a national model for transit-oriented development. Brought to USC by Professor John Mutlow, the conference will include 3rdundergraduate students who will be developing some of the projects further in studio. David Baker, FAIA, LEED AP and Andrea Cochran, FASLA are the keynote speakers; their lecture on Wednesday, September 16, at 6 pm in the Gin D. Wong Conference Center, Harris Hall, is open to the public.