Featured News
Alumnus Etienne Kallos's Short Films Gain International Renown
Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2010, by Samantha Braman
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Etienne Kallos (photo courtesy NYU Film School)
Film festival by film festival, CCA alumnus and filmmaker Etienne Kallos (Film/Video 1997) is gaining renown on the international scene. His short films have screened at numerous festivals, including Cannes (2006), Berlin (2006), Sundance (2007), Telluride (2009), and Venice (2009). He frames much of his work around his unique perspective as a Greek from South Africa, as well as the exploration of sexuality and masculine identity.
Kallos's best-known film, Eersgeborene (2009), Afrikaans for "firstborn," was his thesis project for his master's degree in film directing at Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. It went on to win a Corto Cortissimo Lion for best short film at the Venice Film Festival in 2009. Set in the Afrikaans minority culture of post-apartheid South Africa, Eersgeborene is a fable about incestuous brothers on a remote ostrich farm who descend into matricide and madness.
"I had made a previous short, doorman (2006), that did well at Cannes and Sundance in 2007. After that everyone was advising me to make a feature, but I didn't feel ready yet. So Eersgeborene is a middle step, a half-hour short fiction film to get me ready for my first feature," says Kallos.
"I had a dream one night in New York about driving to a strange, old farmhouse in South Africa. When I woke I decided Eersgeborene should take place on a farm, and that it should explore a conflicted relationship between two men in some sort of emotional power struggle. When I read African Gothic, an English translation of a play by my very first mentor, the internationally acclaimed Afrikaans playwright Reza de Wet, I realized how I could use part of it as a vehicle for my own preoccupations. This is how my film ended up being in Afrikaans, a language I don't speak well. Once I found the play and got Reza's permission, it took me just a month to write the 20-page script."
The process of making the film was far more difficult than Kallos expected. Despite his $20,000 budget and previous Cannes and Sundance credits, no one in South Africa was particularly interested in producing a short film. So, to his horror, he found himself doing all of his own producing, location scouting, production managing, and even script supervising! His connection to the prolific Reza de Wet opened many doors for him in the South African theater community, enabling him to secure several fantastic actors and other essential help for free.
"The shoot was two weeks in the desert with an extra three days of pick-ups a month later. Watching the raw footage after a shoot always sparks my imagination further and I find myself thinking about all the ways I could have written the story differently, or perhaps directed the actors differently. So then I think 'Why not?' and these extra scenes become my 'pick-ups.' I have never been able to make a film without doing pick-ups and some reshoots. It's part of the improvisational way I learned to work at CCA.
"My education at CCA was a great foundation. I learned to think outside the box, improvising and feeling things out as I go along, taking risks. These are essential to the creative process."
Kallos has received numerous awards and award nominations, including the Shorts Jury Award at the Atlanta Film Festival, a 2010 National Board of Review Student Grant Award, and a Charles & Lucille King Family Foundation Award. Additionally, Kallos was nominated for a Student Academy Award for his documentary Jane's Birthday Trip in 2006.
His short film doorman is available from Strand as part of the Boy's Life DVD series. Read more about it here at Logo.tv. Eersgeborene is still circulating at film festivals and not yet available on DVD. Kallos is currently traveling around South Africa, conducting interviews and collecting material for his next project, and soon he will return to New York to begin writing the script. Also in the fall he will start teaching film aesthetics in the graduate film program at New York University.
ShareCategories: Alumni Diversity Featured Film International
Attn: CCA Residence Hall Students: R.A.W. Photos Wanted!
Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2010, by Clay Walsh
Break out your digital camera for CCA’s inaugural R.A.W. (Real Artists at Work) Photo competition—the college’s newest juried student competition that awards a $100 cash prize to each winner!
Students enter the competition by submitting their digital photographs online. Each image should offer an artistic, original perspective and follow the designated theme.
This year’s theme: Life within CCA’s residence halls.
That’s right—here’s your chance to show others in the community what CCA’s on-campus residential life looks like, as well as turn fellow hall residents into stars!
All student submissions are due by October 8, 2010.
Go now to the R.A.W. Photo Submission Form for entry rules and participation guidelines. Possible subjects:
• Community building on campus
• Late-night “studying”
• Community BBQs
• Roommate spotlights
• Door decor
• Residence hall potlucks
• Virtual room tour
• Themed community activities
• My RA: A day in the life
• Dining with friends
• College Avenue adventures
• More than a dorm . . .
• Webster Hall Hangouts
• Art projects in the making
• Lawn worshipping
• What’s up at Clifton
• Coffee talks
• Off to class
Students must be current living in CCA’s residence halls to be eligible. All submissions must be unique, high-resolution digital images (300 dpi recommended) and become the property of CCA. See R.A.W. Photo Submission Form for additional information and guidelines.
Oh, and remember the results of the competition will be made public in order to market the college, so keep it clean! (wink)
Categories: Featured First Year Photography Students Undergraduate Admissions
San Francisco to Shanghai: CCA's StitchLink Studio Course Visits Sister City on the Other Side of the Pacific Rim
Posted on Wednesday, August 25, 2010, by Samantha Braman
The group at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai with the Expo Mascot
You've surely heard the term "sister cities," but what does it actually mean? And here's an even tougher one: Name even one of San Francisco's sisters.
The designation is actually an official one, meaning that the two geographically and politically distinct cities in question have entered into a formal agreement committing to the promotion of cultural and commercial ties. And San Francisco's 18 siblings include Bangalore, Barcelona, and Shanghai. This last was the focus of the spring 2010 edition of the CCA StitchLink Studio, which every year focuses on some element of world architectural design that is progressive, current, and future-focused, but also conscious of the historical and cultural context of the place in question.
In spring 2010 Lisa Findley, professor and chair of the Bachelor of Architecture Program, along with Architecture associate professor Peter Anderson, led 12 undergraduate and three graduate students through an investigation of the thriving and architecturally rich metropolis of Shanghai. They focused on specific areas where new buildings and urban development bleed into older structures and patterns of living. Such zones are too often dismissed as poorly designed, unsustainable, and unproductive; the goal of this course was for each student to narrow in on one site in particular and examine opportunities for new-wave architecture and design to subtly yet effectively negotiate new and old cultural, spatial, and aesthetic values.
Given the "sister city" premise, Anderson and Findley sought to narrow the scope of the studio by identifying a set of urban problems common to both San Francisco and Shanghai. They focused on the fact that both cities have significant opportunities to fight increasingly untenable traffic by taking advantage of water transportation possibilities, and that water transportation nodes such as ferry landings can be significant "stitches" between water and land, old and new, tradition and the future. Over the past 100 years, both cities have abandoned ferry service in favor of private vehicles, but now both are rethinking this move. The studio investigated possible water-bus and ferry opportunities in the Bay Area, and in Shanghai the students looked at sites along the east-west-running Suzhou Creek, designing ferry landings that tied back into their neighborhoods in terms of form and cultural function.
During their 10-day trip to China in March, the group worked diligently on their project sites, but they also took time to walk the streets of Shanghai's downtown. Destinations included the French Concession, the high-rise haven of Pudong, the Old City, and Xintiandi (this last is a car-free eating, shopping, and entertainment district). They visited the offices of architects working in the city (including BArch 1995 alum John Leung, who runs his own successful firm), attended an event for Chinese students who would be headed to CCA in the fall, and sampled traditional regional cuisine. Their three-day, two-night venture outside the city brought them to numerous ancient water towns, including Zhouzhuang, an old canal city with a history of nearly 1,700 years; Suzhou, known for its gardens and canals; and Tongli, a very traditional village nearly void of Westernized urban influences.
Reported Findley and Anderson: "Tongli is a small place that is only lightly influenced by contemporary tourism, and a good opportunity to see multiple approaches to preserving traditional culture and architecture while at the same time making it available to outside visitors."
2010 is not only the 30th anniversary of Shanghai and San Francisco's sistership, but it is also the year of Shanghai's much-anticipated World Expo, a great opportunity for the students to see a variety of architecture and design. Anderson has a long-standing connection to Tongji University in Shanghai, home of one of the top two architecture programs in China, and Findley spent a portion of her 2008–9 sabbatical in Shanghai and the surrounding water towns. Both faculty members are thus very familiar with this rich and varied region.
"It is a sophisticated, complex, and exciting global city with a fascinating history and uncountable layers," they say. "Given China's obvious global importance in this century, an introduction to at least one region is, to our minds, critical for our students. The portion of the trip that was outside the city, where we came into contact with more traditional village atmospheres and other windows into a broader range of historical and contemporary Chinese culture, was also crucial."
Findley and Anderson like to think of architecture as a four-dimensional, embedded practice—meaning that it takes place in space and unfolds over time and through experience. It exists within specific contexts: physical (city, landscape, climate), cultural, historical, social, purposeful, and so on.
"Traveling with an architect's eye and mind is not a natural thing. It isn't merely a matter of wandering around and taking in the sights. It requires slowing down, and a kind of systematic seeing. Traveling while in architecture school is a great way to begin to learn this discipline, since the teachers are there solely to direct and focus your attention, offering important techniques for absorbing the lessons to be learned from a place.
"This is one of the best studio experiences we have ever had. The students were intelligent, talented, and motivated. They worked very hard and produced very strong projects. They were a joy to travel with, and it was particularly notable how they saw themselves as a group with a shared purpose, watching out for one another and being very inclusive in group activities. We were particularly pleased that the graduate and undergraduate students mixed so seamlessly."
Categories: Architecture Diversity Faculty Featured International Students
CCA Students: R.A.W. Video Wanted!
Posted on Tuesday, August 24, 2010, by Clay Walsh
That’s right folks, the rumor’s true: It’s time again to break out your video camera and hit the streets for CCA’s R.A.W. (Real Artists at Work) Video competition.
This year’s theme: Bike Culture at CCA—as you define it!
What’s CCA’s R.A.W. Video competition? It’s the college’s annual student video competition that awards $500 cash to each juried winner of an original artistic point of view submitted in the form of a short video that depicts a designated theme.
For inspiration and to review past winning videos, see the collection of awarded short videos playing in the CCA channel on YouTube.
All student submissions are due by October 8, 2010.
Go now to the R.A.W. Video Submission Form for entry rules and participation guidelines.
• Demonstrate safe riding practices
• Pop a wheelie
• Show us your fixie
• Exercise your right to exercise
• Haul your art project on two wheels
• Commute with friends
• Design or build a bike
• Explore cycling history
• Participate in Sunday Streets
• Ride your bike to class
• Take it on public transportation
• Share a favorite parking spot
• Celebrate your favorite bike lane (thanks to San Francisco Bike Coalition!)
• Park it using an indoor bike rack
Share your vision of how bicycles are a part of daily life at CCA and become eligible to win $500 cash! Just don’t forget to wear your helmet (and have fun)!
Categories: Animation Featured Film Graphic Design Students Sustainability Undergraduate Admissions
Alumnus Erinn Clancy: A Video Artist to Howl About
Posted on Thursday, August 19, 2010, by Jim Norrena
"Rob and Jeff showed me traditional storyboarding techniques. . . . They really work!"
The Pitch
It's a story about a recent California College of the Arts graduate who scores an internship working with his former instructor, an Academy Award–winning filmmaker. The intern makes such a strong impression he's put to the task of editing extra scenes taken from his instructor's latest feature film for its upcoming DVD release. (It should be noted the film was the opening feature at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.)
Despite looming deadlines and a celebrated filmmaker's reputation on the line, the intern knows what he has to do. With the clock ticking, he reviews the film selects. He storyboards the outline. He puts the clips together. He masters the color calibration. He corrects the sound. The rough cut becomes the final cut. It's an undeniable success. The intern, confident and hungry to advance his career, stands triumphant and declares he's off to Brooklyn to start his own film production company.
Career-Catapulting Internship
CCA's Erinn Clancy (BFA Media Arts 2010) assures himself a life spent working with video—selecting footage, assembling the story, narrowing the clips, relating the images with the dialogue, finding the “great little moments,” working with sound, color correcting, organizing the rough cut, and launching the final cut—is his intended career. Now thanks to Film Program chair Rob Epstein, who hired the recent graduate as a film editor to compile the extras for the DVD release of his and Jeffrey Friedman’s feature film Howl, Clancy’s story—about a graduate who lands a career-catapulting internship—is one worth telling!
Clancy is a 24-year-old multifaceted video artist (director, producer, teacher, film editor, entrepreneur) who is about to head off to Brooklyn to start his own production company, which he’s named Shot and Cut Productions. His recent film project, Planet XQ, a six-minute music video, screens August 21 at the 10th annual Nevada City Film Festival and will screen September 11 as part of the San Francisco International Festival of Short Films, the latter of which Graphic Design associate professor Jim Kenney founded and serves as executive director.
Yet it’s Clancy’s current project—editing the scene extras for Oscilloscope Laboratories' January 2011 DVD release of Howl, which had its world premiere as the 2010 opening-night feature at Sundance Film Festival—that we hope will catapult the talented alum in his career. The film, produced by two-time Academy Award–winning filmmaker Epstein (with filmmaking partner Friedman), offers a star-studded cast: Hollywood heavyweight James Franco (as the young Allen Ginsberg), David Strathairn, Jon Hamm, Bob Balaban, Treat Williams, Alessandro Nivola, Mary-Louise Parker, and Jeff Daniels. (Look for Howl to be released in theaters September 24.)
CCA's Faculty/Student Collaborative Relationship
“One of the joys of working at CCA, for all of us who teach in the Film Program,” shares Epstein, who himself started as an apprentice before working professionally, “is having the opportunity to mentor students outside and within the classroom. In our personal careers, we who teach in the Film Program work in a wide range of film and media arts practices, so students are exposed to all sorts of career possibilities.”
Clancy honed in on the opportunity and took hold.
“CCA has been great,” admits Clancy. “Critiques are really big there, and I miss getting feedback from faculty and students. My program was small, so many of us were in the same classes, which formed a supportive community. I knew their work; they knew mine. Same with the instructors.
Among the Film faculty Clancy tips his hat to are former faculty member and 2007 Rome Prize awardee Caveh Zahedi, who was “a big influence for me in terms of the creative process”; Cheryl Dunye, an “amazing inspiration who brought a whole new attitude and energy into my filmmaking process" (and whose recent film, Owls, brought to two the number of Teddy Awards she’s received from the International Berlin Film Festival [The Watermelon Women was awarded a Teddy in 1996]); and assistant chair Brooke Hinton, who “was extremely influential in terms of developing my technical skills.”
Collectively speaking, all of Clancy's influences helped build skills that captured Epstein's attention: "Production of any kind requires the ability to collaborate well and apply social skills, which Erinn excels at. All of us in the Film faculty took note of Erinn’s talent as an editor in his personal work. His potential is vast. He expressed interest in further developing these skills and took the initiative to do just that.”
About Interning at Telling Pictures
Clancy started his internship at industry-renowned Telling Pictures in May. The production studio, founded by Epstein and Friedman, is located at the corner of Arkansas and 16th, just mere steps from CCA’s San Francisco campus. Upon entering the quiet and charming courtyard, it’s difficult to imagine the collective media frenzy Telling Pictures has generated for more than a quarter of a century; between the two filmmakers they have received two Academy Awards, five Emmy Awards, three Peabodys, as well as Guggenheim and Rockefeller Fellowships, among numerable other national industry accolades.
Yet don’t think the ubiquitous prestige of Telling Pictures escapes Clancy’s notice, either; the aspiring video artist has to pass by this resplendent array of awards every day—an inspiration and a daunting measurement of success alike. Choosing inspiration over intimidation, the so-called walk of fame becomes merely a symbolic portal between his life as a CCA undergraduate and his first “real” gig, which just happens to be as film editor working under the wings of two maverick filmmakers who saw his potential and gave him a chance.
“I’m totally honored to be working with such filmmakers,” admitted Clancy. As for his thoughts on Howl itself: “It’s like no other movie I’ve ever seen. It’s really three films in one: a courtroom drama (from the Allen Ginsberg obscenity trial transcripts and records); an interview process with Ginsberg (taken from historical archives); and beautiful, psychedelic, poetic animation depicting Ginsberg’s poetry.”
Your Education Is Only as Good as You Make It
When asked about working through stylistic differences on a collaborative project, Clancy demonstrated a firm grasp on the realities of the professional film industry: “You can always make suggestions, but when you’re working with the director . . . the director gets the final say.” Good answer, kid.
Based on Epstein’s praise of Clancy, it’s difficult to imagine there were any visionary roadblocks. “While first working as an assistant editor, Erinn showed himself to be hard working, skilled, and professional, which led to editing the extra documentary materials for the forthcoming Howl DVD release,” Epstein explained. “Erinn was the perfect candidate and a good fit. We were the lucky ones. . . . With this first professional job under his belt, we hope he is well on his way.”
And before heading off to New York, Clancy offered incoming Film students the following focused advice based on his POV: “Take advantage of the film community that CCA has to offer. Collaborate with your peers. Pick your instructors’ brains for creative input. Use as much film equipment as you can. Your education is only as good as you make it.”
Cut. That’s a wrap! Next stop—red carpet!
Related
Meet Media Arts Alumnus Erinn Clancy (an interview)
The Film Program at CCA (watch the video!)
CCA press release: Howl at Sundance
Categories: Alumni Awards and Accolades Faculty Featured Film
Biology Meets Architecture: San Francisco Workshop Radically Rethinks Building Envelopes
Posted on Thursday, August 19, 2010, by Samantha Braman
Sixty participants from 20 countries around the world descended on CCA's San Francisco campus from July 12 through July 21, 2010, for the Biodynamic Structures workshop. A collaboration between CCA's Architecture Program and the London-based Architectural Association (AA) Visiting School, the workshop offered enrollees the opportunity to investigate new tools, modeling techniques, and technologies of architectural design. In particular they explored how the fields of material science, biology, biomimetics, and robotics might become primary technical and creative sources for design explorations.
The participants were a remarkable mix of students, academic faculty, and design professionals. Participants and instructors came from American schools such as the UCLA, MIT, Pratt, and Harvard as well as top institutions and design offices in Europe, Asia, South America, Mexico, and Canada.
The 10-day workshop began with a series of hands-on technical courses and lectures led by top thinkers and practitioners in the key fields, including Dr. George Jeronimidis, director of the Center for Biomimetics at the University of Reading, England, and Michael Weinstock, noted author and director of the Emergent Technologies Program at the AA School of Architecture in London.
The ideas they introduced were then explored in an intensive six-day project-based design exercise. The participants self-organized into 11 groups, each devoted to a different design idea. "We asked them to explore the future of the building that they were working in: CCA's main San Francisco campus building," says Jason Kelly Johnson, CCA assistant professor and codirector of the workshop. "We asked them to radically rethink its skin and propose new envelopes that could dynamically change in response to both environmental needs and the shifting needs of its users. The result was a diverse and fascinating set of projects that blurred the boundaries between architecture, biology, robotics, and beyond—almost a new paradigm of biodynamic architecture.
"One group project focused on the vascular system of plants and explored how a pneumatically driven 'breathing' facade might use sensors and actuators to expand and contract based on the microclimatic needs of its context. Another group researched how a plant uses its stomata, or small pores in its leaves, for gas and water vapor exchange, then looked into how a dynamic shade canopy modeled on stomata might respond in real time to variable light, heat, and humidity levels."
CCA's collaboration with the AA Visiting School emerged out of a mutual interest in pushing the boundaries of architectural design through explorations in advanced computation and the allied sciences. Johnson and his fellow CCA Architecture professor and workshop codirector Andrew Kudless have had a long-term dialogue with their colleagues in London, and the workshop structure offered an ideal opportunity to continue and enrich these discussions. The other codirectors of the workshop were Christina Doumpioti and Evan Greenberg, both tutors from the AA in London. Kudless reports that CCA is planning to host the collaborative summer workshop for another two years; also in the works is a plan to encapsulate all of the research and workshop projects into a book and traveling exhibition.
Johnson has an extensive background in biodynamic structures. He was featured in the 2009 Princeton Architectural Press book Interactive Architecture, which catalogued architects and designers working at the intersection of dynamic structures and interactive technologies. "The book makes a compelling argument for considering architecture at the crossroads of biology interaction design, material science, robotics, fabrication, and various sustainable applications," says Johnson. "Architecture is just beginning to engage issues surrounding energy sensing, systems control, and cognizance in buildings, cities, and landscapes. We are increasingly looking for technology to be seamlessly integrated into architecture rather than simply applied to it. Architects are extremely interested in understanding how to actually imbue material assemblies with the capability to respond instinctively to their environments, to adapt and learn from their own actions and the actions of their neighbors. Imagine entire buildings that react and move in continuous negotiation with the energy dynamics and cycles of their surroundings!"
Related
AA/CCA Biodynamic Structures website
CCA Architecture MEDIAlab website
More photos
Categories: Architecture Faculty Featured
From Thom Browne to Parsons: The Many Hats of Fashion Design Alumnus Andrew Hague
Posted on Tuesday, August 17, 2010, by Samantha Braman
Andrew Hague (Fashion Design 2008) always has his plate full. But that's the way he likes it. While he was still a student at CCA he began working for the San Francisco–based company Chrome Transport Inc as design director, and he stayed there for a year after he graduated. Then he flew to New York, where he had been hired as director of the Made to Measure custom suit division at Thom Browne. Hague describes Thom Browne as "a couture house that is straight out of the 1950s in nearly every way. I'm certain there is nobody else in New York making fashion clothing at his level of construction. Working there was one of the most immense experiences of my life."
Then, after two years at Thom Browne and the company's first show in Paris, Hague accepted a job teaching the senior menswear thesis program at Parsons the New School for Design in New York. He starts next month. In his spare time (!) he also designs for a small cycling/casual clothing company called Outlier and is working on starting a clothing line of his own.
Here, Hague expands on his career trajectory, his years as a student at CCA, and his design philosophy:
At Thom Browne, I had to do everything from sourcing factories to designing shopping bags. Thom is really busy, so he gives his employees as much responsibility as they can possibly take on. He would just give us direction, and come in and say "yes, no, yes . . ." We had to be able to look at a fabric or construction technique or color and say "that is Thom Browne" or "that isn't Thom Browne."
I distinctly remember one project at CCA where we proposed our own company. That helped me develop an inner vision, one I can follow and really believe in. It may sound trite, but CCA gave me confidence. In the real world, whatever brilliant idea you've got has to be pitched to a cynical sales team. They don't care how cool or original it is. They only care if it will sell or not, and if you aren't 100 percent on board, then you have to act like it, or it will get thrown out fast. You can't be intimidated, even by your heroes. They hired you for a reason. There was a point when I realized that Thom had more faith in me than I had in myself! That's embarrassing, but a good lesson, and well learned.
At CCA I came to realize that I don't agree with the "fashion-as-art" thing. I'm a designer. I design objects that serve a purpose. A lot of thought goes into all stages of the manufacturing process, through to the end user—although that may sound colder than the end result actually is. I let zeitgeist filter through me. My interests are many, and I make an effort not to define them. I like what I like, and saying "this collection was influenced by X-Y-Z," leaves out all the other, very relevant and very subliminal influences.
It's really easy to simply succumb to the will of a creative director and design like an automaton, but it's so much better to risk honesty and come from a real, personal place. At Thom Browne we would often see portfolios from student designers with "Thom Browne" collections, and they never got hired. There only needs to be one Thom Browne, you know! What the world needs more of is people who believe in themselves and their own worldview.
Probably the most important things I've learned are to 1) find yourself as a designer, and really credit yourself and your point of view as unique and therefore significant, and 2) follow that vision doggedly, with zero compromise. The more consistent you can be, and the more times you recite your personal mantra of design, the more people begin to accept it and appreciate it. Thom never considers trends, and he only does what he wants to do. And if that happens to be popular, then great, but popularity isn't the goal. The goal is to make the clothing he wants to make.
Categories: Alumni Fashion Design Featured
Aortic Arc Installation Permanently Graces CCA's San Francisco Campus
Posted on Friday, August 13, 2010, by Lindsey Westbrook
CCA's San Francisco campus is home to a beautiful new permanent installation that canopies the atrium space near the Helzel Boardroom. Aortic Arc, as it has been named by its creators, just received a merit award in the 2010 AIACC Awards Program in the Small Projects Category.
Hanging within the double-height space, the piece functions as a light scope, spatial definer, and viewing portal. The title comes from its formal resemblance to a portion of the human heart and the fact that it leaps over an existing structural beam. The 546 unique HDPE panels are linked together by more than 4,000 pop rivets and suspended from three upper stainless-steel rings (two circular, one elliptical) that hold each other in tension. A singular large parabolic ring functions as a "hoop skirt" below.
The panelized system was developed using the software program Generative Components and a customized Rhino script that turned raw data into a drawing file to drive a CNC milling machine that generated all the parts. HDPE plastic, the same material used to make milk jugs, was selected for the panels due to its low cost, resistance to solar degradation, recyclability, low embodied energy, and high tensile capability.
The technical and artistic challenges posed by the project were unique and did not allow for a conventional approach. Collaborating closely with the designers, the engineers employed nonlinear analysis tools and parametric BIM technology to model and predict the final minimum energy form of the piece, which behaves structurally as a hybrid between a cable-net and a membrane.
Many individuals, including CCA faculty member Mark L. Donohue and four alumni, helped realize the piece:
Architect: Visible Research Office
Mark L. Donohue, AIA: Principal (and CCA associate professor of Architecture)
Americo A. Diaz-Obregon: Project Architect (and CCA BArch 2006 alum)
Charles Lee: Project Designer, Renderings (and CCA MArch 2008 alum)
Chris Chalmers: Component Design and Scripting (and CCA MArch 2009 alum)
Jason Chang: Component Design and Scripting
(and CCA MArch 2009 alum)
Structural Engineer: Buro Happold
Greg Otto: Principal
Gary Lau: Associate Principal
Tom Reiner: Project Engineer, Nonlinear Analysis
Ian Carter: Project Engineer, Nonlinear Analysis
Ron Elad: Project Coordinator
Yukie Hirashima: Complex Geometry Modeling
Krista Flascha: Technical Designer
(Many thanks to Americo A. Diaz-Obregon for this story and photos)
Categories: Alumni Architecture Awards and Accolades Faculty Featured Sustainability
Up, Up, and Away!: CCA's Animation Program Sends Students off to Prestigious Internships and Jobs
Posted on Monday, August 9, 2010, by Samantha Braman
Andrew Guiyangco (Animation 2011) and Yesenia Ayala (Animation 2010)
CCA's Animation Program, launched in 2007, has already gained a stellar reputation for sending its students off excellently prepared for professional life. The chair of the department is Andrew Lyndon, whose job as a digital imaging and video instructor at Pixar Animation Studios has helped create invaluable connections with that company. A few students have secured internships and other positions at the world-renowned studio, including 2009 graduate Daniel Gonzales, who recently scored himself a job at Pixar after spending two summers there! Our students have also received internships at DreamWorks, Tippett Studio, and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.
Here, two Animation students discuss their experiences at CCA and in their internships.
Andrew Guiyangco
Meet current Animation student Andrew Guiyangco (2011), who is currently engaged in a summer internship with the manga/anime company TOKYOPOP:
Why animation?
I've always liked animation. I grew up watching anime and Looney Tunes. They really helped me forget how tough my childhood was. I've always thought that animation is the ultimate storytelling tool. It's a blank canvas for the creation of a whole world.
I'm receiving a CCA scholarship award called the Creative Achievement Award, which was based on my portfolio. I suppose you could say that now I am giving back through my work—helping others escape their troubles.
On interning with TOKYOPOP:
TOKYOPOP is a company that licenses manga and anime (Japanese comics and animations) to be read in English. Lately they've begun dabbling in media arts, which is really interesting. Right now I am doing preproduction work, like commercials, editing, media marketing, and research, for a reality show. I can't tell you exactly what I'm working on because I am bound to secrecy! But I can say that I actually directed a commercial by myself, which was very exciting and scary at the same time. I'm also spearheading many creative media projects, going to marketing events, and meeting people in the industry, and now I'm actually animating something for the company that is BIG (although again I cannot tell you exactly what it is, sorry!).
Though no one referred me to this opportunity, I did get immense support from CCA faculty, staff, and other classmates. I am working in San Francisco, but TOKYOPOP is also based in Tokyo, Hamburg, and London. Yup, TOKYOPOP is global! I go to many of the conventions in Southern California, including E3, Anime Expo, and Comic-Con, to represent the company in the giant "nerd industry."
Working at TOKYOPOP has shown me how a company works, and all the steps and procedures it takes just to approve one drawing. I am awestruck at how many emails, phone calls, and Google searches it takes just to find and get, for instance, music that I can use. Or how laborious it is to find an approved logo.
But beyond all that—and I swear this is not the capitalist in me talking!—it's been so great to work at what is truly a genuine company. I enjoy working here and getting to know my coworkers.
About getting an arts education at CCA:
My CCA courses have given me a good grasp of media arts and animation. Even though running an entire commercial by yourself—which is being judged by a huge number of random people—and doing an animation without much guidance and lots of critique from your boss is not really a class you can take at CCA (or anywhere!), I still came here with a great foundation and actual confidence to say "Yes! I can do that." I have solid ideas and the confidence to execute any project.
CCA's Animation Program is unique. I learned not only animation, but also storytelling, cutting, editing, acting, staging, sound engineering, and the necessary computer applications. When I arrived at TOKYOPOP I felt like I was ready to plunge into Live Action and/or Illustration (those are animation computer programs) without too many problems. At CCA my main focus is animation, but at work I'm very much peppered with a variety of projects that may or may not be animated projects. I am essentially an artist whose expertise revolves around a time-based medium.
At work I mainly edit live-action footage, but I've never had any trouble switching gears. It's the same thing with illustration, I think, because your coursework forces you to think about the principles of storytelling and the skeletal basis of art making instead of being pressured to learn 10 animation computer programs in a semester.
Current projects:
You should totally watch TOKYOPOP's reality show, America's Greatest Otaku, when it comes out later this year (at a popular website which again I cannot disclose, hehe). In the show, Stu Levy, the company's CEO, is traveling in a bus with six other people for 62 days trying to find America's biggest anime/manga enthusiast. We hope to bring a positive light to the growing subculture here in the United States.
Yesenia Ayala
Meet new Animation graduate Yesenia Ayala (Animation 2010), who is interning with the San Francisco–based advertising firm Goodby, Silverstein & Partners:
Why animation?
I arrived at animation through my combined interest in storytelling, fine art, and the movies. I started off as a Painting/Drawing major, then realized that painting alone couldn't create the narratives I was imagining. I took a Media Arts course as an elective. I learned to edit and enjoyed making short films, but it seemed too separate from fine art. When the Animation Program launched in 2007 I jumped on board. It was the perfect balance of fine art and storytelling.
I am very fortunate to have been able to study under CCA's brilliant and talented faculty, including Andrew Lyndon, Andrew Gordon, Bret Parker, Mark Andrews, and Michal Makarewicz. I learned so much about animation and film from them. I love how the program is small enough to enable the students to develop personal relationships with their professors.
CCA has changed my whole life by giving me the resources and mentors I needed to prepare myself for a career in the professional world. The experience has helped me grow, figure out how to learn from my mistakes, and become the person that I am today. It has given me a positive perspective and created pathways to all kinds of opportunities.
Interning with Goodby, Silverstein & Partners:
My internship at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners is a perfect opportunity for a postgraduate. It's fun and I am happy to learn and be part of the team. I recently worked on a commercial set for our client Hewlett Packard, and I now have the opportunity to shadow and follow the editors and motion graphic artists in creating a polished commercial. Additionally, I've been archiving footage for the senior and assistant editors to help sell pitches to various clients.
Categories: Alumni Animation Awards and Accolades Diversity Featured Students
Architecture Program Raises the Bar at AIA SF 2010 Design Awards
Posted on Tuesday, August 3, 2010, by Jim Norrena
Team California's REFRACT House received AIA SF's Special Achievement award
Representatives from all sides of CCA’s Architecture Program took in so many awards—11 at last count—at the American Institute of Architects, San Francisco Chapter (AIA San Francisco) 2010 Design Awards, it was nothing short of a concrete victory! While the special awards gala, which took place May 6, honored and recognized more than 25 architecture and design firms, CCA's Architecture community spent much of the evening basking in the spotlight.
Boasted Director of Architecture Ila Berman: “We cleaned up at the AIA SF Awards, winning almost a dozen awards for CCA Architecture faculty and students!” Her enthusiasm on behalf of her team and for the college community at large speaks volumes for her dedication and leadership.
AIA SF, the third largest of the 300 chapters that comprise the American Institute of Architects, is the Bay Area’s premier destination for architecture and design. The annual awards celebrate the best in Bay Area architecture and urban design and recognize achievement in a broad range of architectural work. The ceremony also serves to inform the public of the breadth and value of architectural practice. Awarded projects are featured in California Home + Design magazine, a reputable industry publication with an 11-county circulation spanning from Southern to Northern California.
The Design Awards gala took place May 6 from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Green Room at the San Francisco War Memorial & Performing Arts Center. Of the nine award categories, members of the CCA Architecture community—representing faculty, students, alumni, and the Trustees—were collectively acknowledged in no fewer than five categories(*) for their outstanding contributions to the built environment.
- Energy + Sustainability*
- Excellence in Architecture
- Historic Preservation and Innovation in Rehabilitation
- Integrated Project Delivery
- Interior Architecture*
- Special Achievement*
- Unbuilt Design*
- Urban Design in the Bay Area
- Young Architects and Associates*
Each category was divided into three subcategories: Honor, Merit, and Citation. The Special Achievement category honored REFRACT House, Team California's entry in last year's national Solar Decathlon competition that saw CCA and Santa Clara University students join forces, and which resulted in a first-place win in the Architecture category, second place in Engineering, and third overall in the competition. Read more about CCA and the Solar Decathlon.
Additionally, entrants are considered for inclusion in AIA SF’s San Francisco Living: Home Tours weekend (presented September 11–12 as part of an exclusive program of the Architecture and the City Festival). The Home Tours is the “first tour series of its kind in the Bay Area to promote a wide variety of architectural styles, neighborhoods, and residences—all from the architect's point of view.” Awardees are also featured in other top, national design publications. (Learn more about the AIA SF Design Awards jurors and sponsors.)
Alum Charles Lee (MArch 2008) was awarded in the Young Architects and Associates category that recognizes “individuals of all ages who have shown exceptional leadership and made significant contributions to the profession in an early stage of their architectural career.”
Lee expressed his appreciation and gratitude the “old-fashioned” way—on his blog: “Thank you! To my wife, friends, and colleagues in their support. I was also thrilled my thesis professor and friend, Neal Schwartz, and Architecture won an Honor award for Unbuilt Design. It was great to see so many CCA alum and faculty win so many awards . . . . Congrats to everyone at Iwamotoscott, REFRACT House, et cetera.”
All winning projects will be on display at the Architecture and the City Festival, being held at 3A Gallery in San Francisco this September. Be sure to view the accompanying feature slideshow to preview images and get summary information about each specific project.
And the winners are . . .
ENERGY + SUSTAINABILITY
Merit Award
Peter Anderson
Harvard Yard Child Care Center
Anderson Anderson Architecture
INTERIOR DESIGN
Citation Award
Zoe Prillinger
Honighaus
Ogrydziak / Prillinger Architects
Honor Award
E. B. Min
L Residence
Min | Day
Merit Award
Liz Ranieri; CCA Trustee Byron Kuth
Russian Hill Penthouse
Kuth|Ranieri Architects, LLP
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT
REFRACT HOUSE
Team California: California College of the Arts and Santa Clara University
UNBUILT DESIGN
Citation Award
E. B. Min
Community CROPS Food Center
Min | Day
Citation Award
Student Charles Ma, architect
Faculty MArch Studio 3: Lalo Zylberberg and John Barone
Mission Cultural & Athletic Center
MArch thesis events
Honor Award
Neal Schwartz
Crook | Cup | Bow | Twist
Schwartz and Architecture
Honor Award
Craig Scott
Edgar Street Tower
IwamotoScott Architecture
Learn more
Merit Award
Eco-Triptych
(Architecture students: Sustainable Skyscraper Studio) Sean Canty, Ryan Golenburg, Cassiano Bonjardim (BArch 2009
(Faculty) Charles Bloszies, Margaret Ikeda, and Jesper Gottlieb
YOUNG ARCHITECTS + ASSOCIATES
Charles Lee (MArch 2008)
About AIA SF
AIA San Francisco represents more than 2,300 members in San Francisco and Marin County. Our mission is to improve the quality of life in the Bay Area by promoting architecture and design. We further this goal through community involvement, education, advocacy, public outreach, member service, and professional excellence.
Categories: Alumni Architecture Awards and Accolades Faculty Featured Sustainability
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