Archinect - Features

'Leadership Is Not Linear': A Conversation with Mary Anne Alabanza Akers, the New Dean of Cal Poly Pomona's College of Environmental Design

2023-03-27T10:00:00-04:00

The fabric of architectural academia is changing. As leadership turnover is more apparent than ever before, I wondered if the demands of an academic leader have outgrown the stereotypical "profile" of what qualifies a dean or department chair. Is there room for deans to lead and make changes beyond their bureaucratic administrative duties? How much experience is enough experience to be "qualified to lead?"

I discussed these questions when I got the opportunity to connect with Cal Poly Pomona's new dean for their College of Environmental Design, Mary Anne Alabanza Akers. She joins the institution after heading Morgan State University's School of Architecture + Planning as its dean for 14 years. Not only has Akers served at a prominent HBCU — she was also its founding dean.

During our conversation, for our latest Deans List series, we unpacked her childhood in the Philippines, her journey to attending school and working in the United States, her commitment to academia, and what it m...

Exploring First-Year Student Work With Cal Poly Pomona's Architecture Foundation Design Studio

2022-10-27T11:41:00-04:00

Continuing with our new Archinect Studio Pin-Ups series, we showcase work from Cal Poly Pomona's Department of Architecture (CPP ARC) First Year Spring Studio. The ARC 1011A Foundation Design Studio is led by Studio Coordinator Robert Alexander (CPP alumn and coordinator of the Department of Architecture's First Year Design Studio) and Associate Coordinator Claudia Wainer (CPP ARC lecturer and Senior Architecture Associate at OWUI).

This course provides students with an "introduction to the process of design through studio projects addressing the role of process in the development of form. Focus on drawing and model construction as a means to seeing and understanding."

Academia and Professional Practice: Cal Poly Pomona's Graduate Architecture Program Fosters Architecture Leaders

2021-03-03T14:53:00-05:00

While applications for graduate programs have passed, there are a handful of schools whose application deadline extends into April. In preparation for their Fall 2021 term and its prospective applicant pool, Archinect dives into the graduate program at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Department of Architecture (CPPARC)

According to Department Chair and Professor George Proctor AIA, "The learning environment at CPPARC cultivates both individual skills and knowledge while providing the context and tools for collaboration [...] The learn-by-doing methods and collaborative components of every CPPARC studio have produced leaders who run many of the region's largest and most successful firms." Newly appointed Graduate Coordinator Victor Jones shares, "our graduate students are outfitted to harness architecture’s potential to address the many of environmental, political, social, and economic challenges that face our communities and cities."

To further expand on their gradua...

Cal Poly Pomona's Undergraduate Architecture Program Aims To Shape the Industry with Students Ready for Professional Practice

2020-11-17T12:46:00-05:00

While the notion of attending college has shifted over the years, many students look for programs that will provide a strong academic foundation and the tools to become successful professionals.

Choosing to pursue a bachelor's degree in architecture is no easy task. While the idea of becoming an architect is still an alluring profession, the intensity and rigor of an architecture program is not for the faint of heart. According to Cal Poly Pomona Department Chair George Proctor AIA, "Many first-year students of architecture discover that while the discipline is demanding, it offers far more than common preconceptions. A degree in architecture can open the door to a variety of career and professional opportunities. A degree in architecture is not like that of other disciplines, is an amalgamation of many, and could be described as a structured liberal arts degree. Every studio offers students an opportunity to learn about both, the design of buildings and environments and, the peo...

An Interview with Frank Gehry, Who Turns 90 Today, Upon Receiving the Neutra Award for Professional Excellence

2019-02-28T12:34:00-05:00

Over the course of his career, Frank Gehry, who turns 90 today, has become a household name, achieving a level of architectural stardom rivaled by few, if any. Honoring this impressive legacy, Cal Poly Pomona’s Department of Architecture recognized Gehry earlier this month with the Richard Neutra Award for Professional Excellence, the school’s annual award which is given to an architect for their dedication to the research and development of new environments in everyday life.

Each year Archinect publishes a conversation between Orhan Ayyüce and the winner of the award. Recent years have included published interviews with Tadao Ando, Guy Nordenson, Enrique Norten, and Carme Pinós.

Student Works: Questioning monumentality at Cal Poly Pomona

2016-01-29T11:41:00-05:00

What defines a monument? According to “The Heresy of Function, Reprise,” a senior project studio at Cal Poly Pomona run by Frank Clementi (of Rios Clementi Hale Studios), the essence of a monument isn’t based on its utility (or overt lack thereof), but rather its intangible qualities or “meaning.” In order to investigate the apparent meaning of a monument, this Student Works explores the metaphysical import and power of various famous monuments by attaching architectural “prosthetics” to them, applying a programmatic addition to “create a complete, if however incongruous, symbiosis of function and meaning.”

A Conversation with Michael Woo

2011-04-07T20:02:59-04:00

By Orhan Ayyüce

Michael Woo is the dean of California Polytechnic University, Pomona the College of Environmental Design which contains departments of Architecture, Art, Landscape Architecture, Urban and Regional Planning, and the John T. Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies. He is a familiar name in Southern California. Mr. Woo has served in Los Angeles City Council and ran for the mayor's office in 1993 as the Democratic candidate, losing by a small margin to Republican candidate and businessman Richard Riordan. A planner by education, Mr. Woo is a unique dean for a design school with the background of an established politician and, to a degree, an environmental activist. I sat down with him last December in his office and had this conversation.