Architecture
Architecture students at California College of the Arts are challenged to be creative and visionary. Across four academic programs and four research and teaching labs, they design with aesthetic, social, and environmental issues in mind, producing work that links image to identity, form to performance, and order to equity.
Overview
Embrace innovative thinking and making
Design better futures
We believe that architecture and interior design are critical cultural practices that can and should serve the common good. Architecture at CCA is an arena for the free and open exchange of ideas about the future—of our buildings, cities, and planet—and a laboratory where these ideas are tested through speculative architectural research. Our students challenge conventional ideas at every turn in an innovative culture of making that weds discipline-specific skills and knowledge to emerging technical and conceptual methods.
With each passing semester, you’ll increasingly see yourself as a designer actively engaged in the most important issues of the day, becoming ever more confident as your knowledge base grows, your skills sharpen, and your ability to identify, develop, and communicate your ideas matures. Guided by a faculty with practice-based expertise—ranging from experimental history and leading-edge digital fabrication to fresh urban form-making, novel representational methods, and down-and-dirty design/build—you’ll transform theory into action as you produce new disciplinary knowledge and discover career opportunities that value design speculation and versatile leadership.
The city is your urban laboratory
Central to your experience at CCA is our San Francisco location: a place where the leading edge of digital culture meets an enduring legacy of social and environmental action. Here, new ideas about how we inhabit this planet are continually being tested. You’ll study in a world-class, top art and design college that values interdisciplinary exchange and open dialogue.
Creating opportunities for excellence
We are stewarding our discipline toward a more sustainable and inclusive future for everyone. With the generous support of the Gensler family and the award-winning Gensler firm, and in honor of the late former board chair, we’ve established the M. Arthur Gensler Jr. Center for Design Excellence, a dedicated academic and professional initiative that advocates for diversity and social justice within the field, supports forward-looking design research and practices, and connects students with leading professionals in the field. Through scholarships, mentorships, and tailored curricular engagements, you’ll connect with industry leaders, discover-cutting edge faculty research, and find inspiring opportunities to construct your career in shaping the future of the built environment.
The M. Arthur Gensler Jr. Center for Design Excellence was created through the generosity of the Gensler Family and the Gensler firm to celebrate the life and legacy of visionary architect, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Art Gensler.
Community
Fundamentally collaborative
Meet the dean of Architecture
Dean Keith Krumwiede is an award-winning educator and the author of Atlas of Another America: An Architectural Fiction, a satirical assessment of the American Dream. Named “Book of the Year” by critics Alexandra Lange and Mark Lamster, Atlas of Another America reflects Krumwiede’s multifaceted and humorous approach to the culture of architecture and its often-complicit relationship to power and privilege. His work has been exhibited globally at renowned architecture biennials, universities, and galleries. A thought-leading researcher, Krumwiede’s scholarly articles have appeared in The Architect’s Newspaper, Praxis, Domus, and elsewhere. Prior to joining CCA in fall 2018, he was an Arnold W. Brunner/Katherine Edwards Gordon Rome Prize Fellow in Architecture.
High-profile architecture and design educators
Our award-winning faculty drive the success of our discipline. As teachers, researchers, practitioners, and public intellectuals, we’re active in shaping important conversations around architecture and interior design. Our faculty believe that architecture and interior design are critical cultural practices that reflect values, impact lives, shape urban spaces, harness technological innovation for positive change, and envision other futures for an environmentally challenged world.
Robust public programming
Our national and international networks are amplified by our lecture series and symposia. Open to the public, our keynote lectures feature architects, designers, and theorists from the Bay Area and around the world. Recent guests include Wang Shu, Jeanne Gang, Eyal Weizman, Amanda Williams, Tatiana Bilbao, and Neyran Turan.
We also host numerous symposia each semester, inviting faculty and scholars from other architecture schools to join us in wrestling with controversial, provocative, and future-focused topics. Often directly tied to projects our students, faculty, and external partners advance in our architecture research labs, symposia are opportunities to learn from scientists, engineers, and other practitioners whose work intersects many different disciplines. Recent symposia topics include Reckoning: Monuments and Racial History, Domestic Affairs: Housing the Multitude, and Designing Material Innovation.
Explore Architecture
@cca_arch_div
May 6, 2024
👏👏And finally, a huge congratulations to Jesus Guillermo Macias Franco (@guillermo.arq), CCA Bachelor of Architecture class of 2024, who was selected for the 2024 Metropolis (@metropolismag) Future 100!!!
About this achievement, Guillermo reflects: “Conjuring the right words to talk about my 2024 Metropolis Future 100 recognition isn’t easy. Running around in my mind are memories from 14 years ago, when I first embarked on this journey back home in Torreon, Coahuila, Mexico. I see myself camping in the studio for days at a time with my classmates and remember the first time I came to California to study. Being recognized as one of the top 100 graduating students in the country isn't just another academic achievement, it’s a reminder that the struggle I endured for 14 years was noticed by others and that although I felt alone for many of those years I never really was. It is proof that there has always been someone rooting for me.”
Guillermo was nominated by Antje Steinmuller, Chair of the BArch program, who says “It’s wonderful to see Guillermo recognized in the Future 100 this year. He has a distinct creative voice that recognizes and translates community needs in times of urban transformation and climate change into playful yet thoughtful spatial experiments. His work, which links an understanding of social tensions and economic challenges with unexpected programmatic imagination, reflects a curious mindset, a mature analytical ability, and confident formal exploration.”
Images:
1. Jesus Guillermo Macias Franco
2-3. Food Cultures, 2022, BArch Core Studio Four, Instructor: Janette Kim.
4. Indian Valley Trading Post, 2022, Advanced Studio, with Bennett Grisley, Instructor: J. Kim.
5-7. ReWeaving: The Warp & Weft of the Community, 2023, Integrated Studio, with Bennett Grisley, Instructors: Mark Donohue & Lisa Findley.
8. Farmhouse, 2021, Studio 2, Instructor: Clark Thenhaus.
9. No Room for Walls, 2023, Advanced Studio, Instructor: Thom Faulders
10. Permeable Mission, 2022, Design Media Four, Instructor: Antje Steinmuller.
@cacollegeofarts #californiacollegeofthearts #ccaarchitecture #architecture #imadethat #architectureschool #metropolisfuture100
May 3, 2024
👏👏Congratulations to Soojee Choi (@sooj__space), CCA BFA Interior Design class of 2024, who was selected for the 2024 Metropolis (@metropolismag) Future 100!!!
Each year, Metropolis selects the top 100 graduating architecture and interior design students in the United States and Canada through its Future100 program. Soojee is one of five CCA Architecture Division winners this year!!!
Here's what Soojee has to say about this achievement: “I am honored to be the winner of Metropolis Future 100. 3 years in this program, I have undergone personal and professional growth as a designer. Every moment at school was new, exciting, inspiring and challenging. This was possible with all faculty, staff and friends' support. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to my fellow winners from CCA!”
Soojee was nominated by Margaux Schindler, Chair of the Interior Design program and Cofounder and Director of SIZL Studio (@sizlstudio), who shares that “Soojee continuously challenges herself to develop complex design solutions, exploring the possibilities of a project at multiple scales. She has the dedication, motivation, and passion to be a leader within the community.”
Images:
1. Soojee Choi
2. Infinite Fold, 2022, Lighting Design Studio, Instructor: Margo Majewska.
3-4. Infinite Fold, 2022, Interior Design Studio 2, Instructor: Margaux Schindler.
5. Post-It Tessellation, 2021, Materiality and Space 1, Instructor: Negar Kalanter.
6. Interactive Modular Pavilion, 2022, Materiality and Space 3, Instructor: Margaux Schindler.
7-10. Converge, 2023, Interior Design Studio 3, Instructor: Negar Kalanter.
@cacollegeofarts #ccarts #californiacollegeofthearts #ccaarchitecture #ccainteriordesign #interiordesign #studio #sanfrancisco #artschool #imadethat #architectureschool #Chimeramade #metropolisfuture100
May 2, 2024
👏👏Congratulations to Negar Hosseini (@blue.artitecture), CCA MArch 2024, who was selected for the 2024 Metropolis (@metropolismag) Future 100!!
Negar writes, “I am incredibly happy and grateful to be listed among the 2024 Metropolis Future 100. The past 2 years of my journey at CCA has seen me grow stronger, more determined, more passionate, and more tolerant. I found myself blessed with everything I have ever desired and strived for, and for that, I am profoundly thankful. I am really proud of all the projects and experiences I have had the chance to participate in at CCA, and grateful to get to know people who are willing to help unconditionally. It means a lot to me to be part of this beautiful and talented community. I would like to deeply say thank you to all of my instructors, friends and colleagues who always were there supporting me; especially Negar Kalantar who believed in me and gave me opportunities to learn and explore architecture in a completely new way. Also, a big congratulations to all my well-deserved winning peers/friends for receiving this award.”
Negar was nominated by Associate Professor Negar Kalantar, Co-director of the CCA’s Digital Craft Lab (@cca.digital.craft.lab), who says “Negar is an exceptionally talented and dedicated student with a unique perspective on design, a wide range of skills, and a strong commitment to creating innovative, user-centered, and sustainable spaces. She has consistently demonstrated her remarkable talent, unique sensibility to design, and dedication to her craft throughout her academic journey.”
Images:
1. Negar Hosseini
2-3. Hidden Harmonies, 2024, Thesis Project, Instructor: Clark Thenhaus.
4. The Bamboo Tower, 2022, CCA Synthetic Tectonics Seminar, Instructor: Jason Kelly Johnson.
5-6. Un-Earthed, 2023, Integrated Studio, w/Hannah Lee Sun, Instructors: Margaret Ikeda, Evan Jones.
7-8. Aqua Haven, 2023, Advanced Studio, w/Mason Chen, Instructor: Jason Kelly Johnson.
9-10. Ellipsoidal Sky, 2022, Advanced Interdisciplinary Studio, Instructor: Randolph Ruiz.
@cacollegeofarts #californiacollegeofthearts #ccaarchitecture #architectureschool #metropolisfuture100 #nexttoparchitects
May 1, 2024
👏👏Congratulations to Electra White (@electrawhitedesign), CCA BFA Interior Design class of 2024, who was selected for the 2024 Metropolis (@metropolismag) Future 100!!!
Each year, Metropolis selects the top 100 graduating architecture and interior design students in the United States and Canada through its Future100 program. Electra is one of five CCA Architecture Division winners this year!!!
Here’s what Electra has to say about this achievement: “I am so excited and honored to be part of the 2024 Metropolis Future 100. I could have never envisioned this a few years ago, and it is an indescribable way to close out my college education. While my time at CCA has been short, I’ve gained so much. I’ve learned and grown as a designer and the school has provided me with so many great connections and opportunities. Thank you to the department, my professors, and everyone who has supported me along the way. And congratulations to my fellow winner, classmate, person who helped me get through school, and best friend, Soojee.”
Electra was nominated by Margaux Schindler (@sizlstudio), Chair of the Interior Design program, who shares that “Electra continuously creates thoughtful and inventive design strategies for each project. She has the dedication, motivation, and passion to be a leader in design innovation within the interior design professional community.”
Images:
1. Electra White
2-3. Petals, 2022, Materiality and Space 3, Instructor: Margaux Schindler.
4-7. Bridge, 2023, Interior Design Studio 4, Instructor: Negar Kalantar.
8-9. Anatomize, 2023, Materiality and Space 4 (tranSTUDIO), Instructor: Negar Kalantar.
10. Craft Social Club, 2024, Advanced Interior Design Studio, Instructor: Katherine Lambert.
@cacollegeofarts #ccarts #californiacollegeofthearts #ccaarchitecture #ccainteriordesign #interiordesign #studio #sanfrancisco #artschool #imadethat #architectureschool #Chimeramade #metropolisfuture100
Students and faculty stories
Undergraduate
Reimagine our cities and environments
Create innovative work across disciplines
The five-year Bachelor of Architecture (BArch) program is NAAB-accredited and STEM-designated. With a focus on critical thinking and creative making, students learn how to be agents of change, leveraging their skills toward environmental, social, and political impact. Design studios emphasize conceptual rigor, engaged research, and material and formal experimentation, setting students up for success across a range of project scales.
Our BFA in Interior Design, is a four-year accredited program with a focus on sustainable material practices and spatial innovation. Students learn to design for various human environments, including the home, workplace, and public sphere. Internships with prominent Bay Area architecture and interior design firms give students a first-hand look at the daily processes they’ll encounter throughout their careers.
Graduate
Architecture matters
Connect architectural innovation with social impact
Our Master of Architecture (MArch) program champions innovation and experimentation in architectural design, preparing students to lead conversations and develop solutions around some of the world’s most pressing issues. NAAB-accredited and STEM-designated, the MArch program guides students through three years of advanced study, leveraging design, research, and material innovation to merge conceptual, historical, and physical contexts.
Our second STEM-designated program, the Master of Advanced Architectural Design (MAAD), is for early-to-mid-career professionals interested in collaborative and experimental design practices. Over the course of one intensive year, students focus on an independent research or design project through mentored study and a range of elective offerings in one of three areas associated with our research labs: Digital Craft, History Theory Experiments, or Urban Works.
Labs & Research
Engage with urgent issues
Instigate change
We believe architecture can imagine and create alternative futures, and we translate this belief into direct action. Our four research labs, which are formulated around faculty interests and expertise, present students with myriad project opportunities, such as developing solutions to regional issues brought on by climate change for the Resilient by Design Bay Area Challenge.
From gritty experiments with alternative materials to groundbreaking thinking about urban issues, these projects are often conceived and realized in collaboration with external partners. Recent collaborators include Autodesk, the City of San Francisco, Kreysler & Associates, and the Resilient by Design Bay Area Challenge.
Digital Craft Lab
The Digital Craft Lab features experimental making through emerging technologies. Advanced computation, robotics, responsive environments, and rapid prototyping are motivations to reconsider how architecture is produced.
Experiments in Collective Living, Fall 2018
Urban Works Agency
The Urban Works Agency responds to the politics of the contemporary city. Equity, ecological vitality, and economic resilience are reimagined through urban and territory scaled analysis, narratives, and arguments.
Architectural Ecologies Lab
The Architectural Ecologies Lab serves as a platform for collaborative research between designers, scientists, and manufacturers. This interdisciplinary setting provides the tools to address ecological challenges like sea level rise, habitat restoration, and climate change.
Black Lives Matter Teach-In: On Race, Architecture, and the City
History Theory Experiments
History Theory Experiments works to preserve and present the immaterial aspects of architectural heritage through the reconstruction of environments, immersive augmented reality, and cutting-edge conservation techniques.
Advanced electives
Vertical electives are courses that integrate graduate and undergraduate architecture students as they learn the process of taking conceptual ideation to practical implementation; the objective of vertical electives is to deepen students’ understanding of and ability to create what’s possible when theory, practice, and experimentation converge. While electives vary from year to year, we’re particularly excited about these two:
- Mechanized Natures – Explore architectural attitudes toward machines and nature through drawing projects that engage processes of automation and ecological thinking.
- Urban Imaginaries – Reflect on "the urban imaginary" by examining how cities are defined through material forces, social acts, political directives, and market exchanges, as well as historically informed ideas about what defines "the city."
Pollintor Power Hub by Roxana and Javier Breceda from the "Bouyant Ecologies: Urban Ecotones at Islais Creek integrated studio, 2020.
Advanced and integrated studios
Our advanced studios, which undergraduates can take during their final two years, are either embedded within our research labs or framed around collaborations with external partners. Studios, like the ones featured below, focus on how architectural design can problem-solve for challenging environments and increasingly dense cities.
Buoyant Ecologies
In contrast to anthropocentric technologies of “resilience” motivated primarily by self-preservation, this evolving advanced studio series explores alternative strategies for human adaptation to ecological change that both depend on and support the health and diversity of nonhuman terrestrial and marine species.
Common Ground: Re-Making the Ground Floor
This advanced urban studio explores the role of social infrastructure in building a more just, inclusive, and thriving city. Students reimagine the ground floor of the city as a shared infrastructure in the service of the public good by imagining new configurations of our collective urban ground.
Metropol Parasol in Seville, Spain.
Travel studios
We encourage every undergraduate and graduate student to study abroad at least once. You’ll broaden your cultural influences, explore new environments, and meet other creative practitioners. Our most recent travel studios focused on the following themes:
- China | Picking Up Threads: Stitchlink 2020 – Explore the burgeoning southeastern region of China studying the work of several contemporary Chinese architects
- Mexico | Material Cultures in Mexico City & Oaxaca – The studio weaves together cultural research, material exploration, and design innovation to explore resonance between traditional craft practices and contemporary techniques of architectural design and production.
We’re here to answer your questions
We’re happy to share more information about our alumni, faculty, and the ambitious projects we’re pursuing in our four research labs.
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