On April 7th, 2023, Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin was invited by SCI-Arc faculty and students to deliver an impromptu verbal meditation on a series of topics, including humanity, hope, the individual, collectivity, transformation, strategy, oppression, ungovernability, resistance, the mind, equality, unbuilding, and joy. At the vibrant age of 76 years, Lorenzo did not disappoint, leaving us with the ultimate gifts of blueprint and possibility. Lorenzo was the culminating speaker of the seminar “Do the Poor Weep For Rome? Reading Mike Davis Into the Future” organized by SCI-Arc faculty Thabisile Griffin and John Cooper to honor and invoke the spirit of the late, great historian, urbanist, and activist Mike Davis who was faculty at SCI-Arc in the 1990s and who passed in Fall 2022.

Elder, anarchist, teacher, former member of Black Panther Party and SNCC, and life-long revolutionary, Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin has catalyzed the movement for liberation on many fronts. Agitating against war and racial segregation in the ‘50s and ‘60s, Lorenzo participated in NAACP youth group sit-in protests that helped end racial segregation in Chattanooga. In 1969, Lorenzo was framed for the murder of a KKK leader, but escaped by hijacking a plane to Cuba. Captured by the CIA in Eastern Europe, Lorenzo was extradited back to the US and sentenced to life imprisonment. Lorenzo’s activism did not cease, and in 1979 he authored Anarchism and the Black Revolution, revised and republished in 2021, which remains the original and ever-radical statement of Black Anarchism, empowering and imparting struggle methods to many. An international campaign led to Lorenzo’s release from jail after 15 years, and Lorenzo continued to fight against criminality in the governing regime through Concerned Citizens for Justice, while based in Chattanooga.

With his wife, also a former Black Panther Party member, journalist, and veteran organizer– JoNina Abron-Ervin, he has organized rallies and marches against police brutality, founded the Memphis Black Autonomy Federation, and initiated the Black Autonomy podcast. Lorenzo continues to speak and organize internationally.

A conversation between Frida Escobedo [Founder and Principal of Frida Escobedo, Mexico City] and Zeina Koreitem [Design Faculty at SCI-Arc/ Founding Partner MILLIØNS, Los Angeles] as they discuss the evolution of Escobedo’s architectural work and the theoretical attributes of time and temporality engaged in a social practice.

In this in-depth interview, Frank Escher and Ravi GuneWardena [Principals of Escher GuneWardena Architecture, Los Angeles] discuss several important projects that incorporate their interest and expertise in historic preservation and spaces for contemporary art. Escher GuneWardena’s involvement with Modernism and its preservation begins with Escher’s research as editor of the first monograph on John Lautner in 1994. The partners reflect on their involvement with a number of Lautner’s projects, most notably the Chemosphere and the current restoration of John Lautner’s own house. Other notable projects discussed include the Eames House and studio in Pacific Palisades and the complete restoration of an early Silverlake house designed by Gregory Ain. Collaborations with artists have led to projects for exhibition spaces, such as the galleries of Blum & Poe, which helped to pioneer the development of La Cienega Blvd as a hub for art galleries and studios in Los Angeles. 

A behind the scenes look at Chu+Gooding Architects. In this lively conversation esteemed SCI-Arc alumni Annie Chu and Rick Gooding speak about their architectural practice including exhibition design as well as educational and residential projects. Annie and Rick also reflect on architectural pedagogy and its role in practice.

SCI-Arc Channel presents an in-depth look at the collaborations between designers, architects, industrial designers and Alessi, one of the leading internationally renowned Italian Design Factories. Alberto Alessi [President of Alessi S.p.A./Head of Marketing Strategy, Communications and Design Management] and Elena Manferdini [Principal, Atelier Manferdini/SCI-Arc Graduate programs Chair] discuss some of the canonical products produced by Alessi. Alberto Alessi shares his thoughts on the role of collaboration as defining a major international company and reflects on the future of design and production for Alessi.   

Join SCI-Arc Channel for a look inside the origins of game design at the Pinball Hall of Fame. Located just off the famed Las Vegas Strip, PHoF is a non-profit, carnival-esque, interactive archive, managed by a man often clad in a carpenter’s apron and strung in wire, founder Tim Arnold. The Pinball Hall of Fame is a project of the Las Vegas Pinball Collectors Club and is grounded by a quality-for-quality’s-sake, Zen-and-the-art-of-pinball-maintenance philosophy. PHoF houses pinball machines from all eras, including some very rare machines such as Williams’ “Black Gold,” Bally’s “Pinball Circus” and Recreativos Franco’s “Impacto.” The 10,000 square foot space features over 200 different pinball games, including some classic video arcade games and other novelty machines of the past and present. Fully staffed by volunteers, excess revenues are donated to the Salvation Army and other local Las Vegas charities.

A conversation on mixing realities in art and architecture with Daniel Birnbaum [Director of Acute Art, London], Ulrika Karlsson [Professor KTH, Stockholm/Guest Professor SAC Städelschule Architecture Class, Frankfurt] and Marcelyn Gow [Design Theory & Pedagogy program coordinator SCI-Arc, Los Angeles] Birnbaum, Karlsson and Gow consider the role of contemporary technologies in transforming curation and the ways in which we experience art and architecture.  

An in-depth look at the creative process that drives major designer furniture and Italian interior design company Cappellini, with Giulio Cappellini [Art Director, Cappellini] and Elena Manferdini [Principal, Atelier Manferdini/SCI-Arc Graduate Programs Chair]. Manferdini and Cappellini discuss some of the canonical products produced by Cappellini, the design workflow, and material research at Cappellini. Giulio Cappellini reflects on the role of collaboration in the creative process and the design of product ‘landscapes’ for future ways of living.

In part two of our discussion with production designer Patti Podesta, Patti questions how Baudrillard’s description of artificial vs real influences the way in which falseness portrays on screen. In the Gregg Araki film “Nowhere,” Patti dealt with flat graphic motifs that compressed the physical set space. She further illuminates how references in the real world find their way into fantasy and the screen world.  The House on the Rock is an architectural reference that Patti used to expose discrete qualities of discontinuity. When approaching the design for American God’s she invoked this notion as symbols of Americana and the supernatural played against and with each other in a visual symphony.   

A behind the scenes look at the creative process of Marcel Wanders studio with Gabriele Chiave [Creative Director, Marcel Wanders] and Elena Manferdini [Principal, Atelier Manferdini/SCI-Arc Graduate programs Chair]. Manferdini and Chiave discuss the role of historical references, material research, and digital technology in the studio’s work. Chiave reflects on the role of community in the creative process and the future of design as a more ethical and sustainable practice.

Production Designer Patti Podesta discusses the significance of details in film and how they contribute to a “reality” as it is portrayed on screen. For Patti, the use of color is never a benign act. Patti recalls that she has often avoided utilizing yellow in her design, but for the series “Hannibal” she introduced it as a means of isolating an object to immediately draw the viewers’ attention. Patti’s attention to realism in the film “Recount” meant that every document and piece of paper in the film was pulled from actual historic sources. This greatly influenced how actors behaved and interacted within the scenes.

Minsuk Cho [Principal Mass Studies] discusses recent projects including Pixel House, Shanghai Expo 2010: Korean Pavilion, Missing Matrix and Daum Space.1 in terms of their various identities. Cho discusses the evolution of Mass Studies from 2003 to the present and reflects on his experience co-curating the 2011 Gwangju Design Biennale.

An inside view into the work of Victoria Sambunaris. Based in NYC, each year, Victoria Sambunaris structures her life around a photographic journey traversing the American landscape. Equipped with a 5x7 inch field camera, film, a video camera and research material, she crosses the country alone tenting on top of her car for several months per year. Her large-scale photographs document the continuing transformation of the American landscape with specific attention given to expanding political, technological and industrial interventions.

Elena Manferdini [Principal, Atelier Manferdini / SCI-Arc Graduate Programs Chair] takes an excursion through her latest book “Elena Manferdini: Portraits and Landscapes”. The book collects the work created by Atelier Manferdini during the last six years of design activity. The projects are subdivided in two large families of explorations, Landscapes and Portraits. The titles of the two volumes allude to two distinct picture plane orientations: horizontal and vertical. These two orientations not only represent an act of vision by the author, they also orient the audience. This book is a collection of work that creatively reinvents our way of looking and being in the world. “Elena Manferdini: Portraits and Landscapes” was published by Beijing University of Technology.

Join Hernán Diáz Alonso [SCI-Arc Director/founding principal of HDA-X] for an inside glimpse into his latest book The Surreal Visions of Hernán Diáz Alonso. Written by Diáz Alonso with a forward by John Hoke III, the book showcases more than 80 projects from HDA-X in eye-popping images challenging the limits of human imagination.

Natasha Case [CEO and Co-founder of Coolhaus Ice Cream] shares her perspective on the relationship between architecture and entrepreneurship. Natasha talks about how a brand can become a visual language for telling stories and expressing values. She shares her experience in unlocking what’s powerful behind an idea and innovating new products.

Join William Friedkin [Director, “To Live and Die in LA” and “The French Connection”] in conversation with Michael Stock [SCi-Arc Liberal Arts Faculty] in SCI-Arc’s Cinema Series as they discuss Friedkin’s reflections on the thin line between good and evil that is the subject of “To Live and Die in LA”. Friedkin also recounts the unique version of Los Angeles he portrayed in the film and the story of its soundtrack. Friedkin also speaks about the culture of cinema in the 1970s.

V. Mitch McEwen [Co-founder A(n) Office/Assistant Professor, Princeton University School of Architecture] reflects on her path into architecture, urban design and academia. McEwen discusses current projects including the Black Box research group at Princeton University’s Embodied Computation Lab, work with a range of cultural institutions and a project for “The Architectural Imagination” at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2016.

Jennifer Bonner [Director, MALL / Associate Professor, Harvard GSD] discusses the role of the extrusion in architecture; the insertion of social space into the office typology; stacking; multiples and collections in her recent projects including “Best Sandwiches” and “Domestic Hats”.

Izaskun Chinchilla [Principal, Izaskun Chinchilla Architects] reflects on the role of ecology in radically transforming architectural practice and the potential of changing mobility patterns in relation to ‘caring activities’ in cities. Chinchilla’s projects address gender issues and work with design-hacking everyday, industrial objects to create a broader architectural engagement.

Alberto Kalach [Principal T.A.X. / Taller de Arquitectura X] discusses his architectural work including the Biblioteca de México and its role in the everyday life of residents of Mexico City as well as an early project for the Faro de Oriente community center and workshops. Kalach also talks about the planning of the urban territory as an architectural issue and the relationship between green spaces and architecture in the urban context. Alberto Kalach is an architect working in Mexico City.

Dr. Barbara Imhof, Co-founder and Co-manager [with Waltraut Hoheneder and René Waclavicek] of LIQUIFER Systems Group and SCI-Arc Applied Studies Coordinator, Herwig Baumgartner discuss Imhof’s work in the field of space architecture.

Visual artist Alexandra Leykauf and SCI-Arc faculty Natasha Sandmeier discuss the relationship between landscape and the image space inherent to 19’th century interiors that informs Leykauf’s photographic and video work.

Barbara Bestor [FAIA, Principal of Bestor Architecture] and Joe Day [Principal of Deegan Day Design] discuss the work of Bestor Architecture.

Carme Pinós [Principal of Estudio Carme Pinós] and Florencia Pita [SCI-Arc Graduate Thesis Coordinator] discuss the architecture of Estudio Carme Pinós and how plasticity plays a role in creating affiliations with an urban context as well as creating social spaces within the projects.

A conversation between Craig Hodgetts and Syd Mead celebrating the publication of the book The Movie Art of Syd Mead: Visual Futurist.

A conversation with S​imon Critchley​ (Hans Jonas Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research​ and series moderator of The Stone, a philosophy column in The New York Times) and Jake Matatyaou (SCI-Arc Liberal Arts Coordinator and founding partner of JuneJuly) discussing temporality, political resonance, the authenticity and illusion of David Bowie, and the aesthetics of activism.

A conversation between Mark Wigley (Professor and Dean Emeritus - Columbia GSAPP) and Marrikka Trotter (SCI-Arc History + Theory Coordinator ) focusing on the recent publication Are We Human?

A conversation between Oana Stanescu (Family New York, Harvard GSD Design Critic) and David Eskenazi (d.esk, SCI-Arc Design Faculty) focusing on Family’s group identity, project initiatives, and design influence.

Take a trip through the cinematic mind of Stanley Kubrick as SCI-Arc Cinema Scholar, Michael Stock, interviews Jan Harlan, Stanley Kubrick’s Executive Producer from 1975 to 1999 (and before that, his assistant from 1969 to 1974). Sit back and relax as they discuss - film soundtracks, music rights, subtle lighting, cinematography, steadicam techniques, “unrealized” projects and everything else under the filmic sun. A behind-the-scenes journey that explores what was and what could’ve been as the result of the Kubrick-Harlan collaboration.

A conversation with Slavoj Žižek (International Director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities and Global Distinguished Professor of German at New York University) and Jake Matatyaou (SCI-Arc Liberal Arts Coordinator and founding partner of JuneJuly) discussing state sovereignty, borders, migration, and global capital.

A conversation with Amale Andraos (Dean of Columbia GSAPP) and Todd Gannon discussing the relevance of the book in contemporary architectural practice and discourse.

A conversation with Jeffrey Schnapp (Director of metaLAB at Harvard & CEO of Piaggio Fast Forward) and Tim Ivison (SCI-Arc History Theory & Liberal Arts Faculty) discussing knowledge design, the role of the archive, and contemporary modes of curation.

A conversation with Martin Gran (Partner and Managing Director - Snøhetta Brand Design) and Margaret Griffin (Co-founder and Principal - Griffin Enright Architects) discussing the role of transdisciplinarity in the design process.

A conversation with Josep Miàs (Principal of Miàs Architects) and Marcelo Spina (Principal of P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S) discussing Architecture culture in Catalonia, the work of Enric Miralles, and the transforming role of geometry and drawing in Architecture.

A conversation with Preston Scott Cohen and Todd Gannon discussing Cohen’s recent project “Revolving Detroit”, exhibited at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale. Cohen’s work engages the interchange between the pragmatic realities of building and architecture as a cultural pursuit.

SCI-Arc’s Benjamin H. Bratton and Todd Gannon discuss the impact of planetary scale computation, new modes of geopolitical governance and the technological future.

John Southern interviews photographer Gregory Crewdson.

B. Arch Program Chair Tom Wiscombe interviews Timothy Morton.

A discussion of the cognitive nonconscious with N. Katherine Hayles and Todd Gannon in conversation.

A discussion of how the traditional medium of painting responds to the digital age with Fabian Marcaccio and Todd Gannon in conversation.

A glimpse into the world of hyper-resolution featuring Michael Hansmeyer and Marcelyn Gow in conversation.

Alberto Kalach [T.A.X. / Taller de Arquitectura X] y Hernan Diaz Alonso [Director de SCI-Arc/CEO] conversan acerca de la arquitectura de Kalach y las influencias que tuvo durante su desarrollo como arquitecto.

Alberto Kalach [T.A.X. / Taller de Arquitectura X] and Hernan Diaz Alonso [SCI-Arc Director/CEO] discuss Kalach’s architecture and the influences on his development as an architect.

A conversation between Jing Liu [Principal So-IL] and David Eskenazi [Principal D.ESK] as they discuss aspects of playful modernism, multiple interpretations and elasticity in the recent work of SO-IL.

Mark Foster Gage [Principal - Mark Foster Gage Architects / Assistant Dean - Yale School of Architecture] and Hernan Diaz Alonso [SCI-Arc Director / CEO] discuss the role of parafiction in architecture in the context of Gage’s SCI-Arc exhibition Geothermal Futures Lab.

Mónica Ponce de León [Dean of Princeton University School of Architecture] talks with Florencia Pita [SCI-Arc Graduate Thesis Coordinator] about the contemporary role of architects speculating on alternatives to the status quo and the fluid exchange between academia and practice.

A conversation between Byron Merritt [Vice President Retail Innovation at Nike] and SCI-Arc Director/CEO Hernan Diaz Alonso discussing the role architecture plays in creating a brand identity and the future of retail innovation and consumer experience design.

Petra Blaisse [Founder of Inside Outside] in conversation with Anna Neimark [SCI-Arc Faculty/Principal of First Office].

Ferda Kolatan joins Erik Ghenoiu and David Ruy to discuss the relationship between concept and form in architecture and the future of architectural pedagogy.

Please join Gilles Retsin and Marrikka Trotter as they discuss the cultural implications of discrete logics of computation and materialization in architecture.

Join SCI-Arc Channel for a raw discussion between Anna Neimark [SCI-Arc/Principal First Office] and Michael Meredith [Princeton University School of Architecture/Principal and co-founder MOS Architects].

Gretchen Wilkins [Head of Architecture at Cranbrook Academy] and Marcelyn Gow [SCI-Arc - Design Theory & Pedagogy Program Coordinator] discuss Wilkins’ recent work, the impact of practice-based research on architectural pedagogy, and collaboration and distributed tools of design.

Winka Dubbeldam [founder and partner of Archi-Tectonics, and Professor and Chair of the Department of Architecture at PennDesign] in conversation with Florencia Pita [Partner, Pita & Bloom and SCI-Arc Graduate Thesis Coordinator]