i understand your concerns about cal poly, slo. in many ways, it is natural to question the school, your career path, or both.

simply because a lot of faculty have left recently is not necessarily a loss -- there is the opportunity for gain. it sounds like you are one to be taking your education into your own hands. seek out the great professors. seek out the great students. in reality, it is often the students who make the course (not simply the professor.)

as far as practicality, no matter how unappealing it may be to the designer-types, the profession demands it. i too went to a seemingly practical school. but if anything, it felt like art school. it's really what you make of it, not simply what is demanded by a flow chart. if your school leans heavily on the pragmatic, then chart a path that is laden with art, theory and the like.

i would suggest keeping an open mind about the year or years ahead, while simultaneously being pro-active about your education. and if you really are curious about other schools, i encourage you to apply to more than just one. consider berkeley, sci-arc, woodbury, and even programs in other states. visit these programs -- attend crits, lectures, open houses, etc. archinect.com is a great way to feel out what is happening both at your school and others -- but don't make any final conclusions until you have first-hand exposure.

best of luck.

stay at SLO thats my opinion

Who at SLO has left that has you concerned? Pay more attention to the fifth year professors... and to some degree, the third year teachers. You sound as though you are very self motivated, which is great. The second year staff has always left something to be desired in my mind.

When I look back on my education there, I think the opportunities provided for you fourth year abroad and the whole fifth year experience far out wiegh the previous three years.

hi rachel

:)

sorry its taken so long to reply to your message, i figured id do it here.

let me start off by stating why i left calpoly after my second year. there were several reasons as you know.

My first concern was the efflux of affluent design professors, namely, brent freeby, guillermo yanguez, steven phillips, terry hargrave, and in the coming year potentially michael lucas. these are the top professors at calpoly and without them calpoly will loose the reputation of balancing design and the practical. the majority of professors left are a dismal list. the best you can hope for in their studios is freedom to work on your own, a good solid knowledge of stud wall construction. ...but you already knew that

as a california state school, calpoly also has a critical lack of funding. the of technology, supplies, and services. like it or not, architecture is moving in an increasingly technological direction. the fact that they have no laser cutter, cnc mill, 3d scanner, 3d printer, or plotters available to architecture students is unbelievable. calpoly projects suffer from a lack of technology, and much work has a scrappy homemade feel. work that would be unacceptable at a school with proper technology available.

i think for an architect to truly understand design problems, they need to be surrounded by people. an architect cannot design for one or two people in every project. architecture is about social cohesion (at least in my book) and to understand how social cohesion and a sensual experience relate to architecture, you need to be exposed to a lot of people and alot of sensual experiences. I think you can only get this type of experience in a city atmosphere. san luis obispo is also a very conservative city. socially, and architecturally. if you continue to go to school there, there will be little to spur your academic thirst, and your inspiration will drain. want proof? go to any fifth year show.

as for cca, i am no authority, but i do know san francisco. i would say there is no better city for an architecture school to be in on the west coast. san francisco has the diversity, social cohesion, and (as of late) increasingly innovative architecture. with san francisco you cant go wrong. personally, i chose sci_arc for its technology based reputation and reputable faculty. if CCA is a bad school (and im not saying it is) at least you will have an abundance of resources and a city full of opportunity at your disposal. (no arch jobs in slo). ive heard good things about cca... look into it. visit. talk to students.

as for the costs, i was able to find a considerable amount of scholarship money for sci_arc. money is no reason to put up with a crappy education. not at calpoly anyway.

get out while you can.

good luck.

thank you, phil :) you make some very convincing points.
haha, and I'm glad you happened to come cross my post on here!

I actually just got back from a visit to cca about 20 minutes ago.
Definitely an upgrade.......

Also, thanks to everyone else for your advice, as well.
I'm still deciding for sure, but these are all important things to consider.

My first concern was the efflux of affluent design professors, namely, brent freeby, guillermo yanguez, steven phillips, terry hargrave, and in the coming year potentially michael lucas. these are the top professors at calpoly and without them calpoly will loose the reputation of balancing design and the practical."

Wow...Freeby has come a long way if you are placing him as a top design professor at Cal Poly. Good for Brent!....Brent was in my thesis studio.

Hargraves retirement is a huge loss for Cal poly..hands down best professor I had there...Gaines was a close second and he has passed.

but..there are still extremely quality staff there. Di Santo, Fowler, Karen and John and Lucas..if he stays. And..as mentioned above..the greatest part of the education there is..was and always will be the 4th year abroad studies. It will change you. It is better than any second tier designers trying to teach you the latest technique to represent space you dont even understand. Go somewhere you can experience architecure and the world.

I went to Copenhagen for a year..many others at SLO to Florence, some to Australia, some to Fountainbleu, some to India...

That experience can't be replaced by 5 axis milling machine and a laser cutter.

I am really looking forward to the study abroad program as well, and I actually plan on going for the year in Copenhagen :)
But that was one other thing that makes the decision hard -- CCA has the exact same study abroad program available in Copenhagen... So I really wouldn't be missing out on that if I did transfer.

Most schools have similar study abroad programs, often in my areas. in fact, i found Calpoly's options to be quite restricting. When i was considering finishing my academics at the calpoly, i wanted to do a year abroad in england attending the Architecture Association. Upon further investigation i found that calpoly did not approve outside programs, and only allowed students to select from the list they provided. A few friends of mine even tried going to vienna for a semester to study at Applied Arts for their fourth year, but their request was also denied due to a lack of effort by the faculty to ok the program (they didnt even review it).

if studying abroad is really important to you, you may want to go to a renowned school for your fourth year, or you may want to visit some area outside of the programs calpoly CAED offers in thailand, florence, and DIS in copenhagen. If so, look further than calpoly.

often in more* areas.

Since bilgi denel and some of the 2nd yeard professors left, seems calpoly slo is going down a spiral.

in the 90's calpoly slo had some of the best professors in architecture, but they are all leaving. ouch.

I can't comment much on the state of affairs of calpoly at this time, since I graduated late 90's. Then again most of the professors are gone.

To be frankly I don't really think is important what school you go, is your drive and interest that makes a big difference. Lot of my schoolmatres end up and myself working for start architect companies.


good luck.

Stay at Cal Poly. As a very recent graduate I can say there's no better school in california to prepare you to be a well rounded architect. Yeah the schools in a bit of a transition with most of the popular professors leaving but the new department head has done an exceptional job building up the program and the new young professors are very good.
As far as lacking in technology, half the shit that comes out of some of those 3d printers can never be built and most students have no concept of structure or materials. There's no better way to design a building than with a basswood, cardboard, etc. model that forces you to figure out structure, connections and materials. New technology for printing is overrated. its just a tool, not a solution.
I think that students should stop worrying about doing work that impresses people and makes a great portfolio image and start being true to themselves and their own ideas about architecture. A professor is there to have a dialogue with and learn new ways of thinking which you may dismiss or accept. But if you cant design and understand construction at the same time, no professor in the world is going to save you.

henri de hahn truly is an angel....

however i myself have been a member of the college based fees committee (for the arch in CAED) and have therefore had a lot of dialog with him about problems in the school. He feels that alot of it is out of his control (rightly so) but he is doing his best to redeem the school. It is no secret that calpoly facilities are in dire need of repair, new (non technological) equipment is needed. btw, pro po-mo/digital-formalism or not, its no secret that a laser cutter is one of the most fundamental and valuable investments a school can make. But who am i to say? calpoly work speaks for itself.

But Henri is doing a great job.

although
he suggested that i transfer.

Don't concentrate on technology. IMO, technology is ruining architectural education.

As for professors, it's always hit & miss and it's the same story at every school.

Sorry to hear Terry is retiring. I was a student when he started and he grew from a freak to quite a good prof.

John Lange, while a difficult nut to crack, is great. But you really need to allow yourself to learn. The man of few words tought me a lot with a few jestures.