Project 03 Los Angeles, 2024

SCI-Arc Extension

Type Institutional / Educational
Location Los Angeles, CA
Year 2024
Strategy Duplication, not Addition
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Overview

A proposal for a SCI-Arc Extension based on conceptual understanding of program assemblies not an addition, but a duplication.

Strategy
Mirrored twin typology connected through Keck Hall
Site
Adjacent to existing SCI-Arc campus, LA
Key Spaces Duplicated
Fishbowl, Spanish Steps, Thesis Pit, Library, Long Bar
Connection
Central through Keck Hall
Floors
Lobby + Program + Meeting + Informal Working
Scale
Long bar typology full campus scale

Concept

"The proposal is not an addition but a duplication. The spaces at SCI-Arc that actually work were identified and reproduced as a mirrored twin typology."

The two bars connect at their center through Keck Hall, preserving the existing heart of the school while extending its logic outward symmetrically. Program assemblies are understood as living social structures not abstract floor area.

Program Inventory

What
Actually Works

Rather than imagining new programs, the project begins by identifying the spaces at SCI-Arc that students actually inhabit and use productively. These become the catalogue of spaces to reproduce.

01 The Fishbowl enclosed pin-up space with full visibility from corridor
02 The Spanish Steps multi-level informal gathering and critique space
03 The Thesis Pit deep, focused studio space below grade
04 The Library linear resource zone along the building's primary axis
05 The Long Bar the full-length corridor that organizes everything
Program assembly diagram ground plan showing spatial distribution

Plans + Section

Assembly
Drawings

The ground floor plan shows the full long-bar typology; the section reveals the relationship between programme, structure, and height. Both drawings share the same organisational logic a continuous spine from which everything extends.

Ground Floor Plan

Ground floor plan long bar typology

Section

Section programme and structural logic

Sheet Guidelines

Sheet labeling guidelines

Structural + Spatial Logic

Symmetry
as Strategy

The structural system mirrors that of the existing SCI-Arc building: a long-span steel truss roof spanning the full width of the program, with service elements concentrated at the building's ends. The extension's symmetrical logic is not formal but organisational two schools of architecture sharing the same spine.

Site Model Campus Context Fig. 01
Longitudinal Section Full Building Fig. 02

Section

Preserving
the Heart

The two bars connect at their center through Keck Hall, preserving the existing heart of the school while extending its logic outward symmetrically. The section shows how the new building steps down to meet the grade along the site's slope.

Physical model cross section revealing interior spatial logic

Physical Model

Four Views

Model close-up structural bay detail
Aerial view full campus context
Ground level entry façade view
Oblique view full site from above
Physical Model Section View Fig. 04

Next Project 04

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