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WSOA In-Flux

WSOA In-Flux

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WSOA In-Flux is a publishing platform for student work launched by Woodbury School of Architecture in 2020.




Woodbury School of Architecture is distinguished by its multiple locations at the heart of the Southern California creative industries: Los Angeles, Hollywood and San Diego. Together, these sites form a critical infrastructure for architectural investigations.

Our undergraduate and graduate programs prepare students to effect positive change in the built environment, to tackle theoretical debates, and to take on architecture and interior design as critical practices. We educate our students as entrepreneurs, citizen architects, and cultural builders equally committed to professional practice, theoretical discourse, social equity and to formal and technological inquiry.

Our faculty are architects, designers, academics and policy makers practicing in Los Angeles, San Diego and Tijuana. This internationally recognized and award-winning group works closely with students to teach the skills required to push the limits of practice.



Mission

Good design is a human right. Woodbury School of Architecture produces graduates who affirm the power of design to improve the built environment and the lives of others by addressing the pressing issues of our time. We transform our students into ethical, articulate and innovative design professionals prepared to lead in a world of accelerating technological change.


Vision

The future belongs to Woodbury. Woodbury School of Architecture creates an environment that empowers our students to impact the future of the profession through meaningful built work. We imagine a world in which there are no disciplinary rights or wrongs, where diverse and sometimes contradictory values collide to generate new ideas, design innovation, unexpected practices, and the means to expand the influence of our discipline.


Woodbury School of Architecture offers a welcoming environment for students to develop their own unique design voice.  We approach the design disciplines multi-dimensionally, teaching a range of pedagogies and design methodologies. Our students leave Woodbury with the confidence to engage in local and global discourse.

Through engaged faculty-student interaction, we transform our students into innovative professionals with a commitment to the power of good design. Our students and faculty share a commitment to sustainable practices, community outreach and civic engagement.

Our School of Architecture is among the first 14 accredited architectural programs to be accepted for participation in the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) Integrated Path to Architectural Licensure (IPAL) initiative. Successful students will have the opportunity to have an architectural license upon graduation.

We believe that our school is a role model for the direction in which the profession is heading – improving gender parity and ethnic diversity among its members, and reaffirming the importance of ethical conduct and social responsibility. Ours is a welcoming community for every race and orientation, and we resist acts of intolerance in favor of thoughtfulness, generosity and kindness. The economic, ethnic, and academic backgrounds of our students reflect Southern California itself. We are determined to provide a place for open debate, the respectful airing of differences, and for rich forms of expression and imagination.


Site running on Cargo. 




Open 'n Fill  ︎ Graduate Studio Five


ARCH 691
Fall 2020 ︎
Los Angeles

Instructor
Carmelia Chiang






Drawing by M.Arch students Maneh Tahmasian and Xavier Chavez



Open 'n Fill is an experimental design studio that generates ideas for immediate response to current problems:

At & Post COVID-19 - Facing the reality of pandemic outbreaks, almost all existing structures need some kind of retrofitting work to make the existing space functional again. The concerns of indoor air quality (IAQ), social distancing, an increase of personal space, and new typology for congregation space are merely a few aspects that are in need to be addressed during the retrofit.

Climate Change - 1.1°C has risen since the industrial revolution. If we pass 2°C, there will be no going back in saving the planet. To ensure that we don't pass that threshold, we need to cut emissions in half by 2030. The building industry has been a huge contributor to cause damage. We, as architects, have the responsibility and obligations to slow down the process of temperature rising. Urban infill is not a new idea of sustainable community development. Cities/ communities have constantly been revitalized by reusing or renewing existing structures for repurposing.

Housing - The problem of housing shortage remains a current issue in Los Angeles. With the newly implemented Senate Bill 330 Housing Crisis Act of 2019 (SB330) in the states of California, combined with the planning strategy Transit Oriented Communities Affordable Housing Incentive Program Guidelines (TOC) announced in 2018, the city encourages developers and architects to increase density within existing zones to help relieve housing problem.






Work by M.Arch student Samin Hoizouritazlighi

This studio investigates how architects can provide visionary for: 
  • Open up existing structures* and implement new spatial configuration to address the health issue
  • Sustainable communities/ cities with urban infill
  • Retrofit existing buildings with the addition of housing units


 


Diagrams by M.Arch students Maneh Thamasian and Xavier Chavez


Catalog Description

Students examine a contemporary architectural design topic through a vertical option studio or specialize through the selection of a focus studio. Topics vary and focuses correspond to the three emphases and post-professional tracks.