Archinect - News

USC Architecture begins search for a new Art Director

2024-10-23T07:36:00-04:00

Following our previous look at an opening for a Capital Projects Manager at the DC Public Library, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an open role on Archinect Jobs for an Art Director at the University of Southern California.

The role, based in Los Angeles, calls for an individual to “lead the direction of all materials and visual media produced by the school.” Among the responsibilities for the role will be overseeing the school’s visual brand identity across media and publications, as well as leading creative design projects according to the school’s brand. The school hopes to attract applicants from those with a “thorough understanding of digital media and evolving online platforms” as well as expertise in photography, typography, and printing.

USC studio environment. Image courtesy of USC School of Architecture

Why the role interests us

The open role at USC comes only weeks after Archinect interviewed the new Dean of the institution’s schoo...

USC School of Architecture's upcoming Fall '24 events feature Olafur Eliasson, Marlon Blackwell, Tatiana Bilbao, and Anupama Kundoo

2024-09-06T15:00:00-04:00

Continuing with a look at the public events and lectures in store this Fall term for our Archinect Partner Schools, we feature the newest addition to our 10-school partnership, the University of Southern California School of Architecture.

The semester begins September 9th with a conversation between Olafur Eliasson and the new Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) director, Johanna Burton. Their discussion serves as a preview for the upcoming exhibition Olafur Eliasson: Open. The Icelandic-Danish artist is participating in the return of the third edition of the popular PST ART.

Olafur Eliasson. Image courtesy USC School of Architecture

Next up, Lorcan O’Herilhy will take part in a September 11th discussion of his new book Building in Place: Architecture Rooted in Context and Social Equity, which is due out September 17th. The social housing pioneer will be followed by the just-named 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale collaborator Marlon Blackwell's lecture Radical Practice on September ...

USC School of Architecture hosts Olafur Eliasson in conversation with Johanna Burton ahead of PST ART on Sept. 9th

2024-09-05T14:03:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by USC School of Architecture

Next Monday, September 9th, the USC School of Architecture, in partnership with USC Visions & Voices and The Museum of Contemporary Art, will host a conversation between Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson and MOCA director Johanna Burton to mark the inception of the third Pacific Standard Time Art exhibition in Los Angeles.

Eliasson is the subject of an upcoming MOCA exhibition, Olafur Eliasson: Open, which runs through July 6th, 2025, at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA downtown space.

Olafur Eliasson and Johanna Burton. Image (Olafur Eliasson): Louise Yeowart, 2024, (Johanna Burton): Erin Leland

He and Burton will talk about the process for his work, which he does not view as completed until it engages an audience. Eliasson’s work has been exhibited this year at the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) and Istanbul Modern, displaying the same confluence of science, art, and technology that forms the basis of this year’s PST ART: A...

$600,000 Mellon grant will help public programs for the Paul Revere Williams Architecture Archive at USC

2024-08-07T12:27:00-04:00

A $600,000 Humanities in Place grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will help bolster Paul Revere Williams’ archive at his alma mater, the University of Southern California. The trove of important documents that had for a long time mired unattended in storage in Los Angeles was since recovered thanks to the efforts of USC faculty members (incl. former School of Architecture Dean Milton S.F. Curry) and Williams’ granddaughter.

Curry will join fellow USC faculty Valéry Augustin and Amy L. Murphy in leading the administration of the public-facing grant. Activities to be funded reportedly include future exhibitions at the USC Fisher Museum, two faculty research fellowships, a biennial publication, an annual memorial lecture series, a symposium, and other community events.

Now housed at the Getty Center, the archive, which was jointly acquired by USC and the Getty Research Institute in 2020, includes: "Over 37,000 plans, including 10,000 drawings, blueprints, project diazo types, ...

Get Lectured: USC, Spring '24

2024-01-09T11:15:00-05:00

The USC School of Architecture has shared its slate of Spring ‘24 academic programming as part of our Get Lectured rundown of the different events taking place on campuses in the upcoming semester.

The term begins on Friday, February 2, when the University of Waterloo School of Architecture’s Jane Mah Hutton stops by campus for a lecture on ‘Material Diasporas.’ She is followed by Colloqate Design’s Bryan Lee Jr.’s appearance on February 9, and the month ends with the UT Austin School of Architecture’s Charles L. Davis II on February 23.

Dylan Wood of the University of Oregon will continue the lecture series on March 22 with a look at his work to establish the school’s Material Intelligence Lab. Finally, the semester wraps up on April 5 with a visit from Princeton University Associate Professor Forrest Meggers.

You can learn more about USC's ARCHITECTURE ENGAGED lecture series here.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your poster and details to connect@archinect.com...

Get Lectured: USC, Fall '23

2023-09-06T12:54:00-04:00

Class is back in session, and that means it’s time once again for our Get Lectured series. Today, we continue the semesterly rundown of the events happening at architecture schools across the country with a look at what’s in store at the University of Southern California in the Fall 2023 term.

Events begin on Friday, September 15, with a lecture from Imaginary Forces Co-founder & Creative Director Peter Frankfurt. University of Victoria researcher Eric Higgs follows on September 22, preceding a lecture from Columbia GSAPP Associate Professor David Benjamin on October 6.

RIOS founder and School of Architecture alum Mark Rios will come to campus on October 16 for a conversation about his career as part of the new Crossing Design Borders series. The month ends with Pecha Kucha-style presentations by new faculty on October 20, followed by an October 27 presentation from Obama Presidential Center designer Billie Tsien.

The Fall's programming concludes with a lecture from Maeda Studio f...

Get Lectured: USC, Fall '22

2022-08-19T13:17:00-04:00

The Fall term is here, and architecture schools are getting ready to welcome guest lecturers and presenters for their upcoming event programming. Kicking off the Fall 2022 group of Archinect's Get Lectured series is USC School of Architecture's public lecture programming.

Starting on August 29, the school welcomes Amrita Mhindroo, co-founder of London-based practice Da Costa Mahindroo Architects - DROO. On September 12, renowned Japanese architect Toshiko Mori, principal of New York-based Toshiko Mori Architect, will speak. Multi-media artist and educator Ada Pinkston will give a talk on September 19, followed by a lecture from designer, writer, and educator Galo Canizares on September 26.

On October 17, the school welcomes landscape design and planning expert Jessica Henson, a partner at OLIN Studio. Architect, educator, and cultural activist Sean Canty of Studio Sean Canty will give a lecture on November 7, followed by a lecture from esteemed Ghanaian-British architect David Adja...

Now you can experience LA’s erstwhile Bunker Hill neighborhood thanks to a 3D reconstruction from USC

2022-07-15T14:26:00-04:00

Seven decades after it was razed to do away with what the federal government deemed “urban blight,” the University of Southern California’s Ahmanson Lab, working with the Bunker Hill Refrain Collaboratory, has created an interactive 3D reconstruction of Downtown Los Angeles’ Bunker Hill neighborhood. The initiative gives users a sense of what was lost when the area was turned over to developers and slowly remade into what is today an unrecognizable warren of commercial and luxury residential projects consistently fought over by some of the city’s most powerful names.

The 3D tour captures the area as it appeared between the late 1930s and the beginning of the government-led “slum clearance” initiatives that began in the last two years of the 1940s.

A typical Queen Anne style home in the neighborhood ca. 1940. Image courtesy USC.

Mayor Fletcher Bowron was the domineering political figure at that time, overseeing an unprecedented second wave of urban expansion in Los Angeles that inclu...

Buro Happold enlisted by USC to devise sustainable design guidelines

2022-01-19T18:52:00-05:00

Buro Happold has been enlisted by the University of Southern California to craft key standards for environmental design and construction performance. The firm was selected through a competitive process to develop new sustainable design guidelines for the university.

Buro Happold will lead the creation of the guidelines “ensuring that the built environment touches the earth lightly while also caring for its occupants,” as stated by Buro Happold architect and associate principal Heidi Creighton. The firm will be supported by consulting partners Perkins&Will, construction engineering company Psomas, along with AHBE | MIG and David Neuman of Neu Campus Planning.

Buro Happold’s work with USC comes at a time when sustainability guidelines and assessment tools have become an essential component of long-term campus planning and institutional strategy. Aside from USC, the firm has established campus-wide standards and overarching sustainability plans for other universities globally, for priv...

Influential modern icon Bernard Judge has passed away in Los Angeles aged 90

2021-11-24T13:08:00-05:00

Leading modernist Bernard Judge passed away in his Los Angeles home last week at the age of 90.

The LA Times’ Carolina Miranda has an excellent write-up on the man who once designed a home for Marlon Brando on an atoll in French Polynesia.

Judge was in many ways the living definition of a “champion of modernism,” pioneering the geodesic dome form exhibited in his Triponent House and working to restore Rudolph Schindler’s then-eponymous West Hollywood home after taking out a personal ad in the Times in the early 1970s.

Judge was born in New York City to an artist mother and architecture professor father. He went on to study at USC at a time when the school was dominated by prominent residential designers like Gregory Ain and Conrad Bluff III.

Section drawing of Judge's Triponent House project. Source: Southern California Architectural History.

Judge designed a number of resorts and inexpensive and easy-to-construct homes through his firm Environmental Services Group. He was a lectur...

Paul Revere Williams archive acquired by USC School of Architecture and Getty Research Institute

2020-06-30T10:38:00-04:00

The architectural archives of prolific 20th century architect Paul Revere Williams, long thought to have been lost to fire during the 1992 Los Angeles Uprising, have been jointly acquired by the University of Southern California School of Architecture and the Getty Research Institute (GRI).

Rather than being lost, however, according to an announcement published by the Getty Research Institute, the archive had been "meticulously cared for by Karen Elyse Hudson, Williams’ granddaughter, who has published extensively on his work."

Hudson explains in the statement that "Paul Williams led by example and instilled in his children and grandchildren the importance of excellence, an attention to detail, and above all, family. The collaboration of two such esteemed institutions, the University of Southern California (USC) and Getty Research Institute (GRI), to preserve and further his legacy, would make our grandfather extremely proud.” She adds that “as the family historian, my journey has b...

USC Architecture launches program to find built solutions for future pandemics

2020-06-15T18:56:00-04:00

The University of Southern California School of Architecture has announced the launch of the HLW Project Héroe Research Initiative, an "interdisciplinary task force comprised of architects, consultants, medical experts, contractors, and USC Architecture students and recent graduates that aims to find a built solution to prevent future COVID-19-like outbreaks."

The effort is led by USC Architecture alumnus David Swartz and is being developed in collaboration with architects HLW and the USC Keck School of Medicine. According to a press release published by the school, Project Héroe will study how "COVID-19 can help identify infrastructures that will thwart future pandemics and allow people to interact unhindered by social distancing."

Previously on Archinect: "#OperationPPE puts architects to work 3d-printing protective equipment for frontline medical workers." Photo courtesy of USC Architecture Operation PPE.

Describing the project, Swartz writes, “My goal with this project is the h...

USC Dean Milton S.F. Curry: "Collectively, we too are the guardians of the democratic space and civic imaginations"

2020-06-03T12:40:00-04:00

University of Southern California School of Architecture Dean Milton S.F. Curry issued a statement today commenting on the ongoing racial justice-focused protests taking place nationwide.

Curry's message comes as various architecture organizations and firms, including the American Institute of Architects and the National Organization of Minority Architects, issue statements in support of the protests.

Dean Curry's letter is published in full here:

We at the USC School of Architecture mourn the tragic, unnecessary, and avoidable loss of another life, that of George Floyd, in the hands of law enforcement in Minneapolis last week. We also affirm the power and meaning of thoughtful protest and civil disobedience in service of structural change for the betterment of all of our fellow Americans. We also reflect on the many lives of Black Americans that have been taken by the ravages of slavery and colonialism, abject violence in the form of beatings and lynchings, racial capitalism and ...

Examining history and theory education at Los Angeles’s schools of architecture

2019-12-04T14:20:00-05:00

Please join Archinect and the Architecture + Design Museum on Saturday, December 7th at 2pm for History + Theory Education in LA's Schools of Architecture, a panel discussion investigating the current and future state of historical and theoretical approaches to architectural education. The panel discussion is presented in conjunction with The Los Angeles Schools exhibition, for which Archinect is serving as media partner.

As climate collapse, equity-based social movements, and technological advances destabilize and recalibrate traditional architectural practice, how is architectural thinking coping?

A few questions to consider:

What are the most important “historical questions” being engaged with (or not) in architecture academia today at LA institutions?
How are contemporary social/political/environmental concerns shaping the development/cultivation of architectural theory?
What is the current state of the architectural canon?
How/are digital workflows impacting theories of design?

W...

Get Lectured: USC, Fall '19

2019-08-22T13:04:00-04:00

With a new school year upon us yet again, it's time for Archinect's latest edition of Get Lectured, an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back regularly to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

For their Fall '19 lecture series, the USC School of Architecture will explore timely topics that include sustainability, race, and heritage preservation in design. The series kicks off with a conversation between USC Architecture Dean Milton S. F. Curry and LACMA Director Michael Govan on August 28. The lineup also features architect Kunlé Adeyemi, artist and filmmaker Doug Aitken, Jennifer Newsom of Dream the Combine, Gregg Pasquarelli of SHoP Architects, and more.

The Fall '19 lecture series marks the debut of “Conversations,” a series of intimate discussions between t...

MacDonald Becket, influential Los Angeles architect, dies at age 89

2017-12-07T18:18:00-05:00

MacDonald Becket ’52, former chairman of the board and CEO of the architecture firm Welton Becket and Associates, died in Phoenix, AZ. He was 89. Becket, who graduated from the USC School of Architecture, was a driving force in the development of architecture in Los Angeles. Two of his major roles in California were coordinating the master planning and architectural implementations of the 260-acre Century City project and in the successful renovation of the state capitol building in Sacramento.

Among his many achievements, Becket was a founding contributor to MoCA's Architectural and Design Endowment in Los Angeles. He also designed the personal homes of former US presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Gerald Ford attesting to Becket's far reaching influence.

Get Lectured: USC, Fall '17

2017-09-13T14:58:00-04:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Fall 2017

Ready or not, it's the start of a new school year. Back for Fall 2017 is Archinect's Get Lectured, an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back regularly to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Here are the Fall '17 lecture events at the USC School of Architecture, which was recently named as one of the Top Architecture Schools for 2018 in the U.S.

Aug 30
Milton S.F. Curry / Dean, USC School of Architecture

Sept 6
Sharon E. Sutton / Professor of Architecture, Urban Design & Planning, Adjunct Professor of Social Work, University of Washington, Seattle

Sept 20
Frida Escobedo / Frida Escobedo Architects

Oct 18
Anna Dyson / Director, Center for Architecture, Science & Ecology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute & ...

Get Lectured: USC, Spring '17

2017-02-07T13:57:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter & Spring 2017

Archinect's Get Lectured is back in session for Winter and Spring 2017. Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss. Mark those calendars!

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Don't miss out on the USC School of Architecture's lecture series for Spring '17.

Jan 11
Craig Dykers / Snøhetta, Oslo + New York City

Feb 8
Kathryn Gustafson / Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, Seattle + Paris

Mar 29
Jinhee Park / SsD, New York City

Apr 12
Florian Idenburg / SO-IL, New York City

Apr 19
Vo Trong Nghia / Vo Trong Nghia Architects, Ho Chi Minh City + Hanoi

Unless noted, all lectures begin at 6:00pm in the Gin D. Wong, FAIA Conference Center, Harris Hall. Lectures are free and open to the public.

Lea...

Get Lectured: USC - "Informed By", Spring '16

2016-02-09T14:56:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter/Spring 2016

Archinect's Get Lectured is back in session. Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

The next poster features "Informed By...", the third-year studio project and lecture series at the USC School of Architecture for Spring '16. Coordinated by Synthesis Design principal Alvin Huang, the studio course and its accompanying talks focus on the topic of "Informed Form", which explores the various ways in which form is informed by a range of disciplinary, technical, and performative influences.

Listed below are upcoming events. All lectures free and open to the public.

Feb 29
MATERIALITY & FABRICATION
Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues / Ball...

Get Lectured: USC, Spring '16

2016-02-03T17:12:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter/Spring 2016

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

The next featured poster comes from the University of Southern California, School of Architecture.

A selection of upcoming events are listed below.

Feb 3
4 Architects Panel: Errors, Estrangement, Messes & Fictions: Exhibit Panel

March 9
Etienne Iliffe-Moon / Director of Industrial Design with BMW Group Designworks

March 7-11
Career Week - workshops and discussions for students

March 11
Career Connections: Firm Fair

March 14-25
Campsites Exhibition

March 21-25
Architecture in Spain, China & Japan

March 30
Frei Otto: Spanning the Future - film screening (premie...

Get Lectured: USC, Fall '15

2015-08-31T13:14:00-04:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Fall 2015

Archinect's Get Lectured is ready for another school year. Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Kicking off the new school year last Monday, our first featured poster comes from the University of Southern California School of Architecture for Fall 2015.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Listed below are selected upcoming events. Lectures are free and open to the public.

Sept 9
Jose Sanchez / Assistant Professor, USC School of Architecture

Sept 28-Oct 16
Midterm Presentations & Reviews

Oct 12
Graduate Open House

Oct 21
Junya Ishigami Drawing Workshop / Junya Ishigami + Associates - Tokyo

Oct 26-30
Architecture in Italy
Exhibition from Global Studies Program

Nov 4
Kelly Shannon, P...

Get Lectured: USC - "Skin + Bones" series, Spring '15

2015-02-12T13:17:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter-Spring 2015

Archinect's Get Lectured is back in session! Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

For the next poster, the University of Southern California School of Architecture shared the details of their "Skin + Bones" lecture series, accompanying the Spring '15 Skin + Bones third-year studio project.

Each lecture invites a prominent specialist within the LA design community to instigate a disciplinary (rather than technical) discussion about the relationship between form, structure, and skin in their work.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Lectures take place at 2 pm in USC Harris 101. Free and open to the public. Listed below are upcoming events.

Mar 2
Structure & Skin - N...

Get Lectured: USC, Spring '15

2015-02-05T14:10:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter-Spring 2015

The next featured poster comes from the University of Southern California School of Architecture.

Listed below are selected upcoming events.

Feb 2-Feb 13
Graeme Morland Retrospective Exhibition

Feb 11
Thomas Phifer / Thomas Phifer & Partners

Feb 18-Mar 9
Midterm Presentations + Reviews

Mar 11
100 Years Celebration
Konrad Wachsmann & USC
Kenneth Breisch, Ph.D. / Assistant Professor, USC School of Architecture
John Enright, FAIA / Grifﬁn Enright Architects, Los Angeles, CA
Alexis Rochas / Principal, Founder, Stereo-Bot, Los Angeles, CA

Mar 23-27
Architecture in Spain, China & Japan exhibition
Reception: March 23, 6 pm

Mar 25
USC Women in Architecture

Mar 28
Haworth Charette

Mar 30-Apr 3
USC...

Get Lectured: USC, Fall '14

2014-09-17T13:00:00-04:00

Say hello to another edition of Archinect's Get Lectured! As a refresher, we'll be featuring a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. If you're not doing so already, be sure to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Today's poster comes from the University of Southern California, School of Architecture. Events include lectures from David Baker, Andrea Cochran, Zaha Hadid, Marc Fornes, and the anticipated ACADIA 2014 conference.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Below are a selection of events. Events requiring reservations and/or admission fees are indicated with RSVP. All other events are free and open to the public.

SEPTEMBER

Sept. 16-18
AFFORDABLE HOUSING DESIGN LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE
at Verle Annis Gallery, Harris Hall

Sept. 17
6 pm
DAVID BAKER, FAIA, LEED AP / Principal, David Baker Architects, San Francisco
ANDREA COCHRAN, FASLA / Andrea Cochran ...

Get Lectured: USC, Spring '14

2014-03-18T13:25:00-04:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter/Spring 2014

Archinect's Get Lectured is up and running again for the Winter/Spring '14 term! As a refresher from our Fall 2013 guide, every week we'll feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current season. If you're not doing so already, be sure to keep track of any upcoming events you don't want to miss.

Today's poster features the Spring '14 Lectures and Events at the University of Southern California, School of Architecture.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Listed below are upcoming events. Events requiring reservations and/or admission fees indicated with RSVP. All other events are free and open to the public. Note each event's time and location. USC Architecture Galleries are open M-F, 10 am-5 pm.

MARCH

March 24-28
ARCHITECTURE IN SPAIN & CHINA
An Exhibition of Work from the Study Abroad Programs
Reception: Mar...