In this film, SCI-Arc’s Director and CEO, Winka Dubbeldam, articulates a vision for the school at a moment of profound global and technological transformation. Rather than seeing uncertainty as a limitation, she frames it as an opening, an opportunity for SCI-Arc to deepen its culture of inquiry, expand experimentation, and strengthen its role as a laboratory for architectural ideas.

For Dubbeldam, design research is the foundation of the school’s identity. At SCI-Arc, architecture is grounded in layered knowledge: data, history, theory, material exploration, and technological innovation, ensuring that creative ambition is supported by intellectual rigor. When research drives design, the work gains clarity, character, and lasting relevance.

She reflects on a culture of collaborative inquiry that defines the school, where faculty across design, technology, history & theory, and visual studies move fluidly across disciplines. Ideas circulate and evolve; interdisciplinary experimentation is not an exception, but the daily condition of SCI-Arc’s academic life.

Embracing emerging technologies, from artificial intelligence to robotics, the school positions these tools as instruments for expanding architecture’s agency in shaping cities and the built environment. Under her leadership, SCI-Arc reaffirms its commitment to innovation while maintaining its independence and speculative edge.

At the center of this vision are the students and community. Large enough to offer expansive opportunity yet intimate enough to remain deeply human, SCI-Arc supports highly individual paths guided by expert mentorship. Students are encouraged to be courageous, building an enduring “inner library” of ideas that will sustain their practice for decades.

In articulating this vision, Dubbeldam reaffirms SCI-Arc’s commitment to openness, equality, and intellectual freedom and to shaping a future for the school that is both ambitious and deeply grounded in its culture.

Bringing together SCI-Arc’s directors for an intimate breakfast conversation inside Director/CEO Winka Dubbeldam’s office, this film captures a moment of camaraderie as they reflect on the school’s radical origins and the legacy that continues to define SCI-Arc. Welcoming Winka into her new role, the group — featuring Michael Rotondi (1987–1997), Neil M. Denari (1997–2002), Eric Owen Moss (2002–2015), and Hernán Díaz Alonso (2015–2025) - shares insights, humor, and decades of visionary leadership. The film serves as both a historical record and a symbolic passing of the torch, affirming that, while each director is “a different animal,” they remain part of the same creative jungle. Honoring Ray Kappe, the film celebrates the lasting spirit and influence of SCI-Arc’s original founder.

Ray Kappe, SCI-Arc Founder and Director from 1972-1987, reflects on the history of the school from its formative days to the present.

Michael Rotondi, Director of SCI-Arc from 1987-1997, reflects on the history of the school and its unique approach to the education of architects.

Eric Owen Moss, Director of SCI-Arc from 2002-2015, discusses SCI-Arc’s self critical re-evalution of pedagogy and how that has continually advanced the discussion of what architecture has been, what architecture is and what architecture can be.

Neil M. Denari, Director of SCI-Arc from 1997-2002, discusses SCI-Arc’s emergence as a major cultural institution in the Arts District with its move to Downtown Los Angeles in 2000.