The USC School of Architecture is the

architecture school This is a list of architecture schools at colleges and universities around the world. An architecture school (also known as a school of architecture or college of architecture), is an institution specializing in architectural education. Africa ...

at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

. Located in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, 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. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...

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 constructing building ...

, building science, landscape architecture and heritage conservation. The USC School of Architecture has enrolled over 6,500 alumni and is consistently ranked among the most prestigious architecture schools in the United States. For 2018, the undergraduate program in architecture was ranked 5th, and the graduate program in architecture was ranked 9th in the nation by ''DesignIntelligence''. Since its founding as a department in 1914, the school has produced some of the world's leading architects, including Frank Gehry, 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 Willow Bay and faculty comprises notable architects including Alvin Huang,

Wes Jones Wesley Jones (b. Santa Monica, California January 27, 1958) is an American architect, educator and author. Founding partner of Holt Hinshaw Pfau Jones, in 1987 and then Jones, Partners: Architecture in 1993, Jones is a leading architectural voice ...

, Lorcan O'Herlihy and

Lawrence Scarpa Lawrence Scarpa (born October 28, 1959) is an American architect based in Los Angeles, California. He used conventional materials in unexpected ways and is considered a pioneer and leader in the field of sustainable design. Personal life 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 The Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) is a bachelor's degree designed to satisfy the academic requirement of practising architecture around the world. Australia Architectural education in Australia varies depending on the university offering th ...

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 Edward Killingsworth FAIA (1917–2004) was an American architect. He is best known as a participant in Arts & Architecture's Case Study program in the mid-1950s. He designed and built Case Study House #25, "The Frank House," in Naples, Califor ...

('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, 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 district. ...

Greene and Greene Greene and Greene was an 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 primarily in Cal ...

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 The Samuel Freeman House (also known as the Samuel and Harriet Freeman House) is a Frank Lloyd Wright house in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California built in 1923. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1 ...

, 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. r ...

. 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: Trinidad Rico
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: Journal of the American Institute of Architects, in 2009. Building science 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

Harris Hall, University of Southern California

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. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

(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: * Milton S. F. Curry * Manuel De Landa (adjunct) *

Steven Ehrlich Steven Ehrlich, FAIA, RIBA (born June 12, 1946) is an American architect based in Culver City, California. He is the founding partner of the practice Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects, formerly known as Ehrlich Architects. Life and career Eh ...

- FAIA * Diane Ghirardo - Ph.D. * Alvin Huang - AIA *

- RA, FAAR * Karen M. Kensek *Alice Kimm - FAIA * Qingyun Ma - AIA * Douglas E. Noble - FAIA, Ph.D. * Lorcan O'Herlihy - FAIA * Victor A. Regnier FAIA *

- 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, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that for ...

to lower and medium-cost housing. *

Reyner Banham Peter Reyner Banham Hon. FRIBA (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: Th ...

Craig Ellwood Craig Ellwood (April 22, 1922 – May 30, 1992) was an influential Los Angeles-based modernist architect whose career spanned the early 1950s through the mid-1970s. Although untrained as an architect, Ellwood fashioned a persona and career ...

* 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 comprises a School of Communication and a School of Journalism at the University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = N ...

. * 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 - internationally acclaimed

industrial designer Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advance of the manufactu ...

. * Richard Neutra - Considered among the most important

modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

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

Transamerica Pyramid The Transamerica Pyramid is a 48-story futurist skyscraper in San Francisco, California, United States, and the second tallest building in the San Francisco skyline. Located at 600 Montgomery Street between Clay and Washington Streets in the c ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

and Geisel Library at

UC San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

. Designed the campus plans of USC,

UC Irvine UC may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' University Challenge'', a popular British quiz programme airing on BBC Two ** ''University Challenge (New Zealand)'', the New Zealand version of the British programme * Universal Century, one of the t ...

, and

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and th ...

. Notable Former Visiting Faculty: *

Stan Allen Stan Allen (born 1956) is an American architect, theorist and former dean of Princeton University School of Architecture. Biography He received a B.A. from Brown University, a B.Arch. from Cooper Union and an M.Arch. from Princeton Universit ...

* Tadao Ando *

Will Bruder Will Bruder (born 1946) is an American architect. Biography Self-trained as an architect, Will Bruder received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, taking supplemental courses in structural engine ...

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

* Frank Gehry * Rem Koolhaas * Mia Lehrer * Michael Maltzan *

Cesar Pelli Cesar, César or Cèsar may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''César'' (film), a 1936 film directed by Marcel Pagnol * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt * César Award, a French film award Places * Cesar, Portugal * Ces ...

Kazuyo Sejima is a Japanese architect and director of her own firm, Kazuyo Sejima & Associates. In 1995, she co-founded the firm SANAA (Sejima + Nishizawa & Associates). In 2010, Sejima was the second woman to receive the Pritzker Prize, which was awarded j ...

Ryue Nishizawa is a Japanese architect based in Tokyo. He is a graduate of Yokohama National University, and is director of his own firm, Office of Ryue Nishizawa, established in 1997. In 1995, he co-founded the firm SANAA (Sejima and Nishizawa and Associate ...

Ma Yansong Ma Yansong (; born in 1975 in Beijing) is a Chinese architect and founder of MAD architects. He serves as adjunct professor at School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, and the visiting professor at Beijing University of Civil Engineering a ...

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. * Barry Berkus - B. Arch. Designed more than 600,000 houses. * Conrad Buff III - Partner in architecture firm

Buff, Smith and Hensman Buff, Straub and Hensman is an architectural firm. The office has won more than 30 awards for house designs from the American Institute of Architects. The firm was known as Buff and Hensman when Cal Straub moved to Arizona and later Buff, Smith a ...

* Boris Dramov - B. Arch, 1966. Notable works include Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial 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 premier ...

. * Behnaz Farahi - M. Arch, 2012. Interactive designer and creative technologist. *

Frank O. Gehry Frank Owen Gehry, , FAIA (; ; born ) is a Canadian-born American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become world-renowned attractions. His works are considered ...

- B. Arch, 1954. Notable works include the

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a museum of modern and contemporary art designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, and located in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. The museum was inaugurated on 18 October 1997 by King Juan Carlos I of Sp ...

, Walt Disney Concert Hall,

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

, and

Dancing House The Dancing House ( cs, Tančící dům), or Fred and Ginger, is the nickname given to the Nationale-Nederlanden building on the Rašínovo nábřeží ( Rašín Embankment) in Prague, Czech Republic. It was designed by the Croatian-Czech archit ...

. Pritzker Prize laureate. * Donald C. Hensman - Partner in architecture firm

* Alvin Huang - B.Arch 1998. Principle in architecture firm

Synthesis Design + Architecture Synthesis Design + Architecture (also known as SDA), is an architecture and design firm based in Los Angeles, California led by Alvin Huang. Awards The firm was honored with the Presidential Emerging Practice of the Year Award by the American Ins ...

. Associate Professor at the USC School of Architecture. *

Jon Jerde Jonathan Adams Jerde, (January 22, 1940 – February 9, 2015) was an American architect based in Venice, Los Angeles, California, founder and chairman of The Jerde Partnership, a design architecture and urban planning firm specializing in the des ...

- B. Arch, 1966. Notable works include

Canal City Hakata is a large shopping and entertainment complex in Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan. Called the "city within the city," it boasts numerous attractions including shops; cafes; restaurants; a theater; game center; cinemas; two hotels; and a canal, wh ...

, Mall of America,

Westfield Horton Plaza Horton Plaza, not to be confused with its adjacent namesake Horton Plaza Park, was a five-level outdoor shopping mall located in downtown San Diego. It was known for its bright colors, architectural tricks, and odd spatial rhythms. It stood on 6. ...

, and

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

. *

- 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, including Richard Neutra, Raphael Soriano, Craig Ellwood, Charles and Ray ...

experiment. Master planning architect for California State University, Long Beach for over 40 years. Designed Watt Hall and the University Religious Center at USC. * Pierre Koenig - B. Arch, 1952. *

William Krisel William Krisel (November 14, 1924 – June 5, 2017) was an American architect best known for his pioneering designs of mid-century residential and commercial architecture. Most of his designs are for affordable homes, especially tract housing, wi ...

- 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 The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is the graduate school of design at Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offers master's and doctoral programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urban ...

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 serves the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation. Built on a $165 million bu ...

and the

San Francisco Federal Building The San Francisco Federal Building, formally the Speaker Nancy Pelosi Federal Building, is an 18-story, building at 90 7th Street on the corner of Mission and 7th streets in the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The fed ...

. Pritzker Prize laureate. * Albert Nozaki - B. Arch, 1933.

Academy-Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nominated art director for Paramount Pictures. 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, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...

'' and ''

The Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments ( Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...

''. 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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. *

Raphael Soriano Raphael S. Soriano, FAIA, (August 1, 1904 – July 21, 1988) was an 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 modular prefabricated ...

- B. Arch, 1934. * Calvin C. Straub - B. Arch, 1943. *

Paul Revere Williams Paul Revere Williams, FAIA (February 18, 1894 – January 23, 1980) was an American architect based in Los Angeles, California. He practiced mostly in Southern California and designed the homes of numerous celebrities, including Frank Sina ...

- B. Arch, 1934. Designed homes for numerous celebrities including Frank Sinatra,

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golde ...

, and

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

. First

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

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-member ...

. 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 constructing building ...

Educational institutions established in 1925 University subdivisions in California 1925 establishments in California