Hernán Díaz Alonso addresses students, in person, in Keck Hall and students, faculty and staff streaming his talk remotely.

He starts the Fall 2021 terms by welcoming everyone back to the building after seventeen months of lockdown due to COVID-19. He briefly reviews Hybrid Phase protocols concerning campus access, hours, health screening, and the logistics of studios and seminars, stressing that the school’s priority is health and safety.

He offers new students some key ideas about SCI-Arc: that it’s of Los Angeles, that all are welcomed and cherished, and that the main goal is to create. He proposes the formula: Speculative imaginative design + Social values + Cultural impact.

He reviews key aspects of SCI-Arc’s administration faculty, media platforms, partnerships, the student union. He discusses the school’s diversity, equity and inclusion and community engagement initiatives. He notes the Fall public programs, and, starting January 2022, the series of events planned for SCI-Arc’s fiftieth anniversary.