CCA Launches the Summer Institute in Sustainable Design
San Francisco, March 22, 2008
The Office of Special Programs at California College of the Arts (CCA) has announced the launch of the Summer Institute in Sustainable Design. This two-week immersion program enables practicing professionals in design and other disciplines to come together to learn about and discuss cutting-edge green strategies and their applications in the realm of design. The first program in what will be an annual series takes place June 15–27, 2008, in Point Reyes and San Francisco.
In creating the Summer Institute in Sustainable Design, CCA draws on its 10-plus years of experience as a leader in sustainability and its long tradition of interdisciplinarity. The program is fully interactive. Participants learn from working professionals and practitioners in a variety of fields as well as instructors from CCA, Stanford, MIT, and other top academic institutions in the United States and England.
Each year the program will host numerous speakers and guests who are working at the forefront of sustainable design and business. Topics will include materials technologies, life-cycle analysis (LCA), biomimicry, closed-loop systems, green chemistry, business models and stakeholders, ethics and world economies, climate change, energy efficiency, green marketing, overseas manufacturing, waste and recycling, and agriculture and ranching.
"Unlike the typical 'talking head' conference, the Summer Institute in Sustainable Design offers a focused, relaxed atmosphere for learning," says Sue Redding, an Industrial Design instructor at CCA who helped create the program.
Nina Sadek, dean of special programs, comments that the interactive structure of the Institute allows like-minded individuals from a variety of backgrounds to connect within an environment that is conducive to learning, studying, talking, and sharing ideas. In a number of different "making" workshops, participants will engage in activities that combine science and art. At the end of the program they will have established a network of colleagues and crafted an appropriate personal approach for the application of green strategies to conventional design considerations such as form, function, performance, and cost.
To register or for more information about the program, call CCA's Office of Special Programs at 510.594.3710.
About California College of the Arts
Founded in 1907, California College of the Arts is the largest regionally accredited, independent, nonprofit school of art and design in the western United States. Noted for the interdisciplinary nature and breadth of its programs, CCA offers studies in 20 undergraduate and eight graduate majors in the areas of fine arts, architecture, design, and writing. The college offers bachelor of architecture, bachelor of arts, bachelor of fine arts, master of architecture, master of arts, master of fine arts, and master of business administration degrees. With campuses in Oakland and San Francisco, CCA currently enrolls more than 1,600 full-time students. Noted alumni include the painters Nathan Oliveira and Raymond Saunders; the ceramicists Robert Arneson, Viola Frey, and Peter Voulkos; the filmmaker Wayne Wang; the conceptual artists David Ireland and Dennis Oppenheim; and the designers Lucille Tenazas and Michael Vanderbyl.
Point Reyes—headlands
San Francisco skyline
Press Contacts
Kim Lessard
415.703.9547
klessard@cca.edu
Brenda Tucker
415.703.9548
btucker@cca.edu