Southern California Institute of Architecture

The Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), located in downtown Los Angeles's Arts District, operates from a quarter-mile-long former freight depot that has been converted into an open-plan academic space. Founded in 1972 by a group of faculty and students from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, SCI-Arc maintains its founding principle of architectural experimentation through a highly focused professional curriculum. The institute offers undergraduate and graduate programs in architecture with an emphasis on design innovation, digital technologies, and fabrication techniques. Students work in dedicated studio spaces within the industrial-style building, which also houses fabrication facilities, a robotics lab, and a public gallery that regularly exhibits contemporary architectural work. As one of the few independent architecture schools in the United States, SCI-Arc operates without traditional departmental divisions and requires all students to live off-campus in the surrounding Los Angeles area.