In this film, Darin Johnstone, Vice Director and Chief Academic Officer at SCI-Arc, reflects on what sets the school apart and why this is the moment to choose it. A member of the faculty for twenty-four years, Johnstone has helped shape the school as much as witness its evolution, and he speaks from inside a culture defined by experimentation and a willingness to test the very limits of what architecture can be, a place that lives in constant change and flux.

For Johnstone, what distinguishes SCI-Arc is its people, an interesting cast of characters across staff, faculty, and students, united by a multiplicity of voices and a palpable drive to create something new. He describes the school in a single word, energy, the kind you feel the moment you enter the building and experience on day one. It begins with faculty dedicated to experimentation and the programs that support it, and when students see that modeled, they know they have entered an environment that rewards risk.

At its core, SCI-Arc teaches a way of thinking, independent and creative, the capacity students carry into every technical and creative problem throughout their careers. That foundation is paired with real pathways into the profession and facilities to match, from visualization and the robotics lab to milling and 3D printing.

SCI-Arc welcomes students from every background, those who are open, curious, optimistic, idealistic, and fearless. In a moment of intense political, social, cultural, and environmental change, Johnstone argues that to choose SCI-Arc now is to choose to actualize the change you want to see in the world. For anyone weighing how to study architecture, this is a film worth watching.

©2026 SCI-Arc Channel