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Degree Programs
The Southern California Institute of Architecture offers undergraduate—Bachelor of Architecture—and graduate degree programs—Master of Architecture 1 and Master of Architecture 2. These professional degrees are accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). In addition to undergraduate and graduate programs, SCI-Arc offers two one-year postgraduate programs with specialization in Urban Design, Planning and Policy—Future Initiatives (SCIFI), and Emerging Systems & Technologies (ESTm).
During the summer, SCI-Arc offers a four-week program for high school students—Design Immersion Days (DID) —and Making+Meaning, a five-week college level, intensive introductory program that explores design through experimental architecture.
> Student Gallery
SCI-Arc's undergraduate program is aimed at educating the next generation of young architects who will lead the discipline as designers, and who will inherently question the status quo while searching for new models of architectural inquiry. A fluid and holistic approach to architectural education is achieved through an emphasis on a wide range of conceptual and practical skills, from critical thinking to technical expertise. Advanced digital technologies and fabrication methods permeate the program, taking advantage of SCI-Arc's Fabrication Shop, which includes state-of-the-art equipment ranging from 3D printers, CNC mills, and vacuum-forming machines, to traditional forms of metal and wood working, to sophisticated automation and robotics. Parallel paths of the program feed the design studio as a platform for the synthesis of the curriculum. Design Studios, Cultural Studies, Applied Studies, General Studies and Visual Studies are all crafted to develop a rigorous awareness and knowledge of the discipline while understanding their inherent inter- relationships and bridging between these topics as students sequence through their five years of study.
> Student Gallery
The M.Arch 1 program is a three-year degree open to applicants who hold a bachelor’s degree or equivalent in any field of study. Rather than focus on a single ideology, methodology or technique, the M.Arch 1 program presents a broad range of approaches to the discipline of architecture, encouraging cross-pollination from other fields of study in a critical manner. Students are introduced to a more critical view of contemporary architectural issues – both theoretical and design-related – as a tool with which to examine the complex and shifting relationship between architecture and cultural, political, economic and social change. Students develop a framework of inquiry and experimentation through a series of rigorous core design studios that are integrally linked to various courses in Cultural Studies, Applied Studies and Visual Studies. On completion of the core sequence, students have acquired a set of skills, critical ideas and unique experiences that allow them to address more complex architectural issues while testing their own intellectual and design convictions. Students then progress to the vertical studio sequence, in which they are offered a choice of studios devoted to a wide range of topics chosen and taught by distinguished Los Angeles-based and international architects, as well as upper-level elective seminars taught by leading thinkers in their area of expertise. The program culminates in the public presentation of a thoroughly researched independent design Thesis project.
> Student Gallery
The M.Arch 2 program is a two-year degree specifically designed to build upon and reconsider knowledge gained from undergraduate degrees in architecture, and has as its aim the reappraisal of the discipline of architecture. Through the intensive study of the latest design software and means of fabrication and prototyping, and through the exploration of new materials, the program provides students with an understanding of new design methodologies, while placing them in their historical and contemporary contexts. On completing the core sequence, students can choose from Vertical Studios and elective seminars that either continue the focus of their core studies or broaden the scope of their education. The program culminates in the public presentation of a thoroughly researched independent design Thesis project.
> Student Gallery
ESTm is a one-year Master of Design Research degree. An intensive design and research laboratory uniquely tailored for applicants with a professional degree in architecture, engineering or industrial design, ESTm focuses exclusively on technology as it applies to the present and future of design, computation, media, digital fabrication, robotic manufacturing, sustainable engineering, material ecologies and novel tectonics.
> Student Gallery
SCIFI is a one-year Master of Design Research degree. As an intensive research-based, post-professional degree program and think tank dedicated to generating contemporary approaches to large-scale urban architecture, SCIFI's curriculum takes a sequential approach to understanding and rethinking city design-making. Students focus on identifying adaptive and holistic—rather than rigid and segmented—responses to economic, social and environmental pressures. As a center for urban discussion, the program connects students, academics, theorists and architects with public agencies, as well as those in private development, to generate debate regarding the role of cities and urban systems.
> Student Gallery
SCI-Arc's Design Immersion Days (DID) is a four-week summer program devoted to introducing high school students to architecture and design. Rising juniors and seniors will be offered the opportunity to explore careers in architecture and design or simply satisfy deep curiosities about how products, buildings, and environments are designed and made. Among skills students will acquire in the program are freehand sketching, photography, critical and analytical thinking, non-linear thinking, design drawing, design modeling, graphic presentation, and portfolio layout and design.
> Student Gallery
A platform for individual learning in a collective environment, Making+Meaning is an introduction to the discipline of architecture as engaged by SCI-Arc's design culture and community. The five-week summer program derives its strength from the diverse backgrounds of its students-from those gauging their interest and curiosity in architecture, to those beginning an architectural degree, to those looking to expand their skills in the tangent fields of education, film, industrial design and the fine arts.
Faculty
SCI-Arc's faculty represents a wide range of contemporary approaches to Architecture and related disciplines. Among its members are renowned theorists, critics and historians and some of the world’s leading architectural practitioners who have devoted their careers to investigating how broad aesthetic, social and cultural concerns can be integrated into an overall understanding of the built and natural environments. Meet a few of the SCI-Arc faculty.
1972
SCI-Arc was founded in 1972 by a group of faculty and students who wanted to approach architecture from a more experimental perspective than traditional schools offered. SCI-Arc was based on the concept of a "college without walls" and it remains one of the few independent architecture schools in the world.
Today, SCI-Arc is a private, nonprofit, accredited by WASC and NAAB.
Today, SCI-Arc is a private, nonprofit, accredited by WASC and NAAB.
Students
SCI-Arc students are part of a close-knit community, sharing their passion and commitment in an immersive studio culture. Each student has a dedicated workspace where faculty engage in one-on-one dialogues guiding students through contemporary thought, practice and expertise. The dialogue continues throughout the studios, emerging through the student’s work. Mid-term reviews, final reviews and thesis reviews are culminating moments for the design studio, where students present their work to a panel of prominent architects from around the world.
> Student Life
Lecture Series
Each semester’s lecture series offers an eclectic selection of speakers from multiple disciplines, including architects, designers, artists, film-makers, engineers, theoreticians, and performers. The series often includes symposia focusing on a comprehensive array of accomplished panelists. Speakers are selected by a forum of students, faculty, alumni, and administrators. The lecture series is free and open to the public. SCI-Arc lectures are webcast for simultaneous viewing at sciarc.edu/live. Click below to visit the SCI-Arc Media Archive, over 1000 hours of continually–updated videos of architecture and design lectures, symposia and events featuring the most significant voices in architecture since 1974.
Gallery Exhibits
The SCI-Arc Gallery program allows exhibitors to experiment with new materials, concepts, or fabrication methods, reflecting SCI-Arc's encouragement of an experimental approach to construction materials and its emphasis on learning through building. Students have the opportunity to participate in workshops in which they work closely with the invited architect to assist in the fabrication and installation of the exhibit. Below are some previous exhibits.
Admissions
> Application Procedure
With close to 80 faculty members and 500 students, SCI-Arc is committed to shaping student experiences as they pursue undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate degrees. We receive applications from prospective students from all over the US and around the world, and we believe your experience at SCI-Arc will prepare you not only to perform well in the profession, but will also lead you to take the discipline in new directions, as you re-think assumptions, create, explore and test the limits of architecture.
Applications must include the following materials:
- Completed application form (online)
- $85 non-refundable application fee
- Portfolio of creative work
- Statement of purpose
- Resume
- Three letters of recommendation
- Official transcripts
- Test scores, if applicable (SAT or ACT, GRE)
- TOEFL or IELTS (for international students only)
SCI-Arc values diversity and welcomes applicants who demonstrate the interest and ability for the study of architecture, regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, age, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or physical abilities.
Deadlines
Spring 2013
B.Arch, Advanced Placement Only: October 1, 2012
Fall 2013
M.Arch 1: April 15, 2013
M.Arch 2: April 15, 2013
B.Arch, first year placement: January 15, 2013
B.Arch, advanced placement: May 1, 2013
ESTm: April 15, 2013
SCIFI Future Initiatives: April 15, 2013
Summer 2013
Design Immersion Days: June 3, 2013
Making+Meaning: July 1, 2013
Undergraduate Open House
Monday, October 22, 2012 10:00am
Monday, April 15, 2013 10:00am
Graduate Programs Open House
Friday, October 26, 2012 2:00pm
Friday, April 19, 2013 2:00pm
RSVP to openhouse@sciarc.edu
Financial Aid
67% of SCI-Arc students receive financial aid. For accepted SCI-Arc students, your ability to pay is based on the information you provide on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the SCI-Arc Financial Aid forms and your federal tax returns. The Financial Aid Office offers information on many programs to incoming and continuing students. Students must reapply for financial aid by completing the FAFSA online in January. SCI-Arc’s financial aid application and other required forms are made available each January for students who wish to receive financial aid in the following academic year. It is recommended that all students complete their applications by the priority deadline (March 2, 2013) to ensure that there is no delay in receiving their funds. International students are not eligible to receive federal or state financial assistance. However, international students may be eligible for educational loans through private lenders, banks and other financial institutions or organizations. For more information click here.
Scholarships
Each year the Admissions Committee awards admissions scholarships to entering students. All applicants who submit a completed application to SCI-Arc are automatically considered for a scholarship. No additional forms must be submitted. Admissions scholarships are awarded on the overall merit of an applicant’s application submissions and his/her potential to succeed at SCI-Arc. All entering students, domestic and international, are considered for admissions scholarships. All currently enrolled SCI-Arc students are eligible to apply for continuing student scholarships after completing their first two semesters of study.
Careers
SCI-Arc has 4,000 alumni from its 40 year history. To provide career support for alumni and students, the Alumni Council hosts Open Season, a series of career networking events created to connect SCI-Arc alumni and professional partners in the architecture and design field and SCI-Arc students. These day-long events invite potential employers to observe and recruit SCI-Arc students as they present their studio and thesis work to faculty and jurors for academic review. Below are companies that hire SCI-Arc graduates and the cities where they work.
- Ahmedabad •
- Alexandria •
- Amman •
- Amsterdam •
- Ankara •
- Athens •
- Baltimore •
- Bangalore •
- Bangkok •
- Barcelona •
- Basel •
- Beijing •
- Beirut •
- Belgrade •
- Berlin •
- Beverly Hills •
- Bogota •
- Bombay •
- Bordeaux •
- Brooklyn •
- Buenos Aires •
- Burbank •
- Cairo •
- Calgary •
- Caracas •
- Changzhou •
- Chengdu •
- Chennai •
- Chiba •
- Chicago •
- Copenhagen •
- Culver City •
- Damascus •
- Denver •
- Dubai •
- Dublin •
- Düsseldorf •
- Florence •
- Frankfurt •
- Glasgow •
- Guang Dong •
- Guangzhou •
- Guatemala •
- Haifa •
- Halifax •
- Hamburg •
- Ho Chi Minh City •
- Hokkaido •
- Hollywood •
- Hong Kong •
- Indianapolis •
- Istanbul •
- Jakarta •
- Jeddah •
- Johannesburg •
- Khartoum •
- Kingston •
- Kobe •
- Kyoto •
- Laguna Beach •
- Lahore •
- Las Vegas •
- Lima •
- Lisbon •
- London •
- Los Alamitos •
- 2POP •
- 4RM Studio •
- 8484 Architecture •
- A :: Lab •
- A.Polis •
- A+@ architecture studio •
- A4 Architects •
- aArts Architects •
- Abrahams & Eyster Architecture •
- AECOM •
- Amador Whittle Architects •
- Anshen + Allen •
- Architecture 350 •
- Array Design •
- At-Six Architecture •
- BMW •
- Bohlin Cywinski Jackson •
- Bulthaup- Los Angeles •
- Caldwell Architects •
- Callison •
- Chiron Corporation •
- Clive Wilkinson Architects •
- CO Architects •
- Cuningham Group Architecture, P.A. •
- Design Cycles •
- Design Universal Architects •
- DiMarzio | Kato architecture llp •
- Disney Imagineering •
- DLR Group WWCOT •
- Enclosures Architects •
- EwingCole Arch. Engineers Interiors Planners •
- Frederick Fisher & Partners •
- Gabor + Allen •
- Gehry Partners, LLP •
- Gehry Technologies •
- Gensler - Costa Rica •
- Gensler- Los Angeles •
- Gensler- New York •
- Gensler- Newport Beach •
- Gensler- San Francisco •
- Gensler- Shanghai •
- Gensler- Washington, DC •
- Gkkworks •
- Griffin & Enright Architects •
- Greenscreen •
- Gruen Associates •
- Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Co. •
- HGA Architecture Engineering Planning •
- Hinerfeld-Ward, Inc. •
- HKS •
- Hodgetts & Fung •
- HNTB •
- HOK •
- Los Angeles •
- Macau •
- Madrid •
- Malibu •
- Maracaibo •
- Melbourne •
- Mexico City •
- Miami •
- Montevideo •
- Montreal •
- Moscow •
- Mumbai •
- Nairobi •
- Nara •
- New Delhi •
- New York •
- Newport Beach •
- Ontario •
- Orlando •
- Osaka •
- Oslo •
- Paris •
- Pasadena •
- Penang •
- Portland •
- Prague •
- Pyrgos Ilias •
- Quebec •
- Quito •
- Reykjavik •
- Riyadh •
- Rome •
- Rotterdam •
- San Diego •
- San Francisco •
- San José •
- San Juan •
- Santa Monica •
- Sao Paulo •
- Seattle •
- Seoul •
- Sevilla •
- Shanghai •
- Shenzhen •
- Singapore •
- Staten Island •
- Stuttgart •
- Sydney •
- Taichung •
- Taipei •
- Tehran •
- Tel Aviv •
- Thessaloniki •
- Tokyo •
- Torino •
- Toronto •
- Tucson •
- Universal City •
- Vancouver •
- Venice •
- Veracruz •
- Verona •
- Victoria •
- Vienna •
- Washington DC •
- Zurich •
- Hurley •
- Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. •
- JAG Architects •
- Jerde Partnership •
- Kanner Architects •
- Kelly Wearstler •
- KGM Lighting •
- KMA Architecture and Engineering •
- KMD Architects •
- KPF •
- Lauterbach & Associates Architects, Inc. •
- Lautner Associates •
- Lehrer Architects LA •
- Livinghomes •
- Looking Glass Architecture + Design •
- Lookinglass Architecture and Design •
- Marmol + Radziner •
- Marriott Vacation Club International •
- Martinez and Amador Architects •
- Metro Design Group •
- moNAD •
- Moore Rubell Yudell Architects & Planners •
- Nadel Architects, Inc. •
- Nahbih Youssef & Associates •
- NBBJ •
- Nike •
- Nike Inc.-DTC Global Retail Design •
- Old Navy •
- Perkins+Will Los Angeles •
- Perkins+Will- San Francisco •
- Perkowitz + Ruth Architects •
- Pierre-Yves Rochon •
- Richard Meier & Partners Architects LLP •
- Rios Clementi Hale Studios •
- RMJM •
- RMJM Singapore •
- Roto Architects •
- RTKL Associates, Inc. •
- Silber Architects •
- Silverwood Builders, Inc. •
- Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP •
- Standard LLP •
- Stantec •
- Stedman Blower •
- Steinberg Architects •
- Steven Erlich Architects •
- Studio 440 Architecture & Acoustics •
- Sussman/Prejza & Co., Inc. •
- Thornton Tomasetti •
- Undercovers- Warner Bros./Bad Robot Prod. •
- Universal •
- Westfield •
- Xefirotech •
- Zaha Hadid Architects •