The USC School of Architecture is the architecture school at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. Located in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, it is one of the university's twenty-two professional schools, offering both

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...

and graduate degrees in the fields of

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

building science Building science is the science and technology-driven collection of knowledge to provide better indoor environmental quality (IEQ), energy-efficient built environments, and occupant comfort and satisfaction. ''Building physics, architectural sc ...

landscape architecture Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...

and heritage conservation. The USC School of Architecture has enrolled over 6,500 alumni. Since its founding as a department in 1914, the school has produced some of the world's leading architects, including

Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry ( ; ; born February 28, 1929) is a Canadian-American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become attractions. Gehry rose to prominence in th ...

, Paul R. Williams, Pierre Koenig and

Thom Mayne Thom Mayne (born January 19, 1944) is an American architect. He is based in Los Angeles. In 1972, Mayne helped found the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), where he is a trustee and the coordinator of the Design of Cities po ...

, among others. The current dean of the school is Brett Steele and faculty comprises notable architects including Alvin Huang, Wes Jones, Lorcan O'Herlihy and Lawrence Scarpa.

History

The program at USC began as an architecture department in 1914. Soon after, with the help of the Allied Architects of Los Angeles, a separate School of Architecture was established in 1925. By 1928, majors and degree-granting programs were provided to students. One of the earliest undergraduate programs was the 5-year professional Bachelor of Architecture program. Over the years, the school grew and expanded its influence into one of the premier architecture programs in the country. The school now offers 3 undergraduate degrees, 3 undergraduate minors, 4 master's degrees and 1 Ph.D. The current main buildings are Watt Hall & Harris Hall. Watt Hall was built in 1974 and designed by alumnus Edward Killingsworth ('40).Allison Engel
In memoriam: Samuel Hurst, 94
USC News, April 28, 2015, accessed February 7, 2017. USC Architecture took over maintenance of the Gamble House, the Craftsman masterpiece in

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

Greene and Greene Greene and Greene was an architecture, architectural firm established by brothers Charles Sumner Greene (1868–1957) and Henry Mather Greene (January 23, 1870 – October 2, 1954), influential early 20th century American architects. Active prim ...

in 1966 in a joint deed with the city of Pasadena, which took over responsibility for the grounds. The school also owns the Samuel Freeman House, a Frank Lloyd Wright designed house in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles built in 1923. The Freeman house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. The house has also been listed as a California Historical Landmark #1011, and as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #247 in 1981. The Freeman house is undergoing long-term stabilization and rehabilitation.

Fields of Study

Undergraduate Architecture

Director: Doris Sung
The undergraduate "B. Arch" is accredited by the

National Architectural Accrediting Board The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), established in 1940, is the oldest accrediting agency for architectural education in the United States. The NAAB accredits professional degrees in architecture offered by institutions with U.S. ...

. The "NAAB" is the sole authority for granting accreditation for professional architecture degree programs.

Graduate Architecture

Director: Alvin Huang
The graduate "M. Arch" is accredited by the

. As an accredited professional degree, the M.Arch provides firm grounding knowledge in history, technology, professional practice and theory. The studio is the core setting for students to learn to synthesize the cultural, environmental and tectonic thinking through informed design practice. The separate Master of Advanced Architecture Studies (MAAS) is a post-professional degree for those who already have a Bachelor of Architecture degree.

Graduate Heritage Conservation

Director: Trudi Sandmeier
The graduate heritage conservation curriculum is designed to expose students to the full breadth of the profession, including "...materials conservation, policy and planning, conservation theory, global conservation efforts, architectural and landscape history, best-practices in resource documentation and evaluation, sustainability, and historic site management."

Graduate Landscape Architecture + Urbanism

Director: Alison Hirsch
Landscape architecture at USC is a design-centered program centered on a trans-disciplinary approach. The Master of Landscape Architecture is accredited by the Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board (LAAB).

Graduate Building Science

Director: Kyle Konis, Ph.D., AIA
The Master of Building Science (MBS) degree program was recognized as a "top-notch program" by

ARCHITECT An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

: Journal of the American Institute of Architects, in 2009.

Building science Building science is the science and technology-driven collection of knowledge to provide better indoor environmental quality (IEQ), energy-efficient built environments, and occupant comfort and satisfaction. ''Building physics, architectural sc ...

focuses on the relationship of the human condition and to natural forces. The USC Chase L. Leavitt Graduate Building Science program emphasizes the breadth of technology in architecture, including structures, building systems, analytical computing and BIM, building envelopes, design theories and methods, human comfort, sustainability, acoustics, lighting and daylighting.

Facilities

The School of Architecture is located in the Harris Hall and Watt Hall Complex, at the southern end of the USC University Park Campus. The school comprises over of design studios, classrooms, galleries, workshops and labs. Students in the USC School of Architecture have their own 24-7 personal workstations. Students have access to their projects at all times. Watt Hall contains one of the best regional architecture libraries, and is home to extensive woodshop and fabrication facilities. The complex also houses several gallery review spaces and, next door, the " USC Fisher Museum of Art".

Faculty

Many of the faculty members at the School of Architecture are practicing professionals and researchers. The majority of the faculty are active members of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

(AIA) or the

American Society of Landscape Architects The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is a professional association for landscape architects in the United States. The ASLA's mission is to advance landscape architecture through advocacy, communication, education, and fellowship. ...

(ASLA) and 14 are Fellows of AIA (FAIA). Notable Faculty: * Steven Ehrlich - FAIA * Diane Ghirardo - Ph.D. * Alvin Huang - AIA * Wes Jones - RA, FAAR * Karen M. Kensek *Alice Kimm - FAIA * Aaron Neubert - FAIA * Douglas E. Noble - FAIA, Ph.D. * Lorcan O'Herlihy - FAIA * Victor A. Regnier FAIA * Lawrence Scarpa - FAIA * Marc Eugene Schiler - FASES, LC * Doris Sung * Patrick Tighe - FAIA Notable Former Faculty: *

Gregory Ain Gregory Samuel Ain (March 28, 1908 – January 9, 1988) was an American architect active in the mid-20th century. Working primarily in the Los Angeles area, Ain is best known for bringing elements of modern architecture to lower- and medium- ...

- Best known for bringing elements of

modern architecture Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architectur ...

to lower and medium-cost housing. *

Reyner Banham Peter Reyner Banham (2 March 1922 – 19 March 1988) was an English architectural critic and writer best known for his theoretical treatise ''Theory and Design in the First Machine Age'' (1960) and for his 1971 book ''Los Angeles: The Architectu ...

* Craig Ellwood * A. Quincy Jones - Professor and later Dean of the School of Architecture from 1951-1967. Designed the building which houses the

USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism The USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism is a part of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. It has 2,300 undergraduate and graduate students. Willow Bay is the dean. Prof. Hector Amaya is the Director of the Sc ...

. * Calvin C. Straub - Professor & Dean, Considered the father of California Post & Beam architecture. Early inventor of Mid-Century modernism with other USC faculty-Case Study Architect. * Pierre Koenig * Ralph Lewis Knowles *

Raymond Loewy Raymond Loewy ( , ; November 5, 1893 – July 14, 1986) was a French-born American industrial designer who achieved fame for the magnitude of his design efforts across a variety of industries. He was recognized for this by ''Time'' magazi ...

- internationally acclaimed industrial designer. *

Richard Neutra Richard Joseph Neutra ( ; 8 April 1892 – 16 April 1970) was an Austrian-American architect. Living and building for most of his career in Southern California, he came to be considered a prominent and important modernist architect. His most ...

- Considered among the most important

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

architects. * William L. Pereira - Joined faculty in 1949. Notable works include the Transamerica Pyramid in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and

Geisel Library Geisel Library is the main library building of the University of California, San Diego. It is named in honor of Audrey Geisel, Audrey and Theodor Seuss Geisel, the latter of whom is better known as children's author Dr. Seuss. The building's di ...

UC San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Sc ...

. Designed the campus plans of USC,

UC Irvine UC may refer to: Education In the United States * University of California system * University of Charleston, West Virginia * University of Chicago, Illinois * University of Cincinnati, Ohio * Upsala College, East Orange, New Jersey (''defunct ...

, and

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private university, private Christianity, Christian research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ, with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pepperdine's main campus consists ...

. Notable Former Visiting Faculty: * Stan Allen *

Tadao Ando is a self-taught Japanese autodidact architect known for his unique integration of architecture and landscape. Architectural historian Francesco Dal Co described his work as an example of " critical regionalism". Ando received the prestigious ...

* Will Bruder *

Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English comedian, actor, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishmen ...

*John Friedman *

Rem Koolhaas Remment Lucas Koolhaas (; born 17 November 1944) is a Dutch architect, architectural theory, architectural theorist, urbanist and Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Graduate School of ...

*Tom Kundig * Mia Lehrer * Michael Maltzan *

Cesar Pelli Cesar or César may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''César'' (film), a 1936 French romantic drama * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt Places * Cesar, Portugal * Cesar Department, Colombia * Cesar River, in Colombia * Cesar ...

* Kazuyo Sejima & Ryue Nishizawa * Ma Yansong

Alumni

Many of the students that have graduated from the USC School of Architecture have moved on to be leading figures in the architectural community. *

- Attended the School from 1927-1928. Former professor at the USC School of Architecture and Dean of the school of architecture at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

. * Barry Berkus - B. Arch. Designed more than 600,000 houses. * Conrad Buff III - Partner in architecture firm Buff, Smith and Hensman * Boris Dramov - B. Arch, 1966. Notable works include

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial is a national memorial (United States), national memorial located in West Potomac Park next to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It covers and includes the ''Stone of Hope'', a granite s ...

and

Third Street Promenade The Third Street Promenade is a pedestrian mall esplanade, shopping, dining and entertainment complex in the downtown area of Santa Monica, California which originally opened as the Santa Monica Mall on November 8, 1965. It is considered a premi ...

. * Behnaz Farahi - M. Arch, 2012. Interactive designer and creative technologist. * Frank O. Gehry - B. Arch, 1954. Notable works include the

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a museum of modern and contemporary art in Bilbao, Biscay, Spain. It is one of several museums affiliated to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and features permanent and visiting exhibits of works by Spanish a ...

Walt Disney Concert Hall The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California, is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center and was designed by Frank Gehry. It was opened on October 23, 2003. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Av ...

Experience Music Project The Museum of Pop Culture (or MoPOP) is a nonprofit museum in Seattle, Washington, United States, dedicated to contemporary popular culture. It was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2000 as the Experience Music Project. Since then ...

, and Dancing House.

Pritzker Prize The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international award presented annually "to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment which has produced consisten ...

laureate. * Donald C. Hensman - Partner in architecture firm Buff, Smith and Hensman * Alvin Huang - B.Arch 1998. Principal in architecture firm Synthesis Design + Architecture. Associate Professor at the USC School of Architecture. * Jon Jerde - B. Arch, 1966. Notable works include Canal City Hakata,

Mall of America Mall of America (MoA) is a large shopping mall located in Bloomington, Minnesota. Located within the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, the mall lies southeast of the junction of Interstate 494 and Minnesota State Highway 77, north ...

, Westfield Horton Plaza, and

Universal CityWalk Universal CityWalk is the name shared by the entertainment and retail districts located adjacent to the theme parks of Universal Destinations & Experiences. CityWalk began as an expansion of Universal's first park, Universal Studios Hollywood, an ...

. * Edward Killingsworth - B. Arch. 1940. Participated in the

Case Study Houses The Case Study Houses were experiments in American residential architecture sponsored by '' Arts & Architecture'' magazine, which commissioned major architects of the day to design and build inexpensive and efficient model homes for the United Sta ...

experiment. Master planning architect for

California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), also known in athletics as Long Beach State University (LBSU), is a public teaching-focused institution in Long Beach, California, United States. The 322-acre campus is the second largest in the ...

for over 40 years. Designed Watt Hall and the University Religious Center at

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

. * Pierre Koenig - B. Arch, 1952. * William Krisel - B.Arch 1949. noted mid-century modern architect *Mark Lee - B.Arch 1991. Partner in architecture fir
JohnstonMarkLee
Appointed the chair of the department of architecture at Harvard University Graduate School of Design in 2018. *

- B. Arch, 1968. Notable works include the

Caltrans District 7 Headquarters The Caltrans District 7 Headquarters building at 100 South Main Street in Downtown Los Angeles, California, United States serves the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation. Built on a ...

and the

San Francisco Federal Building The San Francisco Federal Building, formally the Speaker Nancy Pelosi Federal Building, is an 18-story, building at the corner of Mission and 7th streets in the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The federal building w ...

. Pritzker Prize laureate. *

Albert Nozaki Albert Nozaki (1 January 1912 – 16 November 2003) was a Japanese American art director who worked on various films for Paramount Pictures. He is perhaps best known for his memorable design of the Martian war machines from the 1953 film ''The ...

- B. Arch, 1933. Academy-Award nominated art director for

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

. Known for work on ''

The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells. It was written between 1895 and 1897, and serialised in '' Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US in 1897. The full novel was ...

'' and '' The Ten Commandments''. Career was disrupted when he was interned at

Manzanar Manzanar is the site of one of ten American concentration camps, where more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II from March 1942 to November 1945. Although it had over 10,000 inmates at its peak, it was one ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. *

Raphael Soriano Raphael S. Soriano, FAIA, (August 1, 1904 – July 21, 1988) was a Greek-born American architect and educator, who helped define a period of 20th-century architecture that came to be known as Mid-century modern. He pioneered the use of modu ...

- B. Arch, 1934. * Calvin C. Straub - B. Arch, 1943. * Paul Revere Williams - B. Arch, 1934. Designed homes for numerous celebrities including

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedian, producer, and studio executive. She was recognized by ''Time (magazine), Time'' in 2020 as one of the most influential women of the 20th century for h ...

, and

Desi Arnaz Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986), known as Desi Arnaz, was a Cuban-American actor, musician, producer, and bandleader. He played Ricky Ricardo on the American television sitcom ''I Love Lucy'', in whi ...

. First

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

member and

Fellow of the American Institute of Architects Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) is a postnominal title or membership, designating an individual who has been named a fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Fellowship is bestowed by the institute on AIA-memb ...

. Recipient of the 2017

AIA Gold Medal The AIA Gold Medal is awarded by the American Institute of Architects conferred "by the national AIA Board of Directors in recognition of a significant body of work of lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture." It is the Ins ...

. * Zelma Wilson - B. Arch, 1947.

References

External links

* {{University of Southern California Architecture schools in California

Architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

Universities and colleges established in 1925 University subdivisions in California 1925 establishments in California