The Wedge gallery delved deep into the depths of hand drawing with the exhibition Subterranea: Drawings by Rick Gooding. More pix of the opening are here.

Architect and Woodbury School of Architecture professor Barbara Bestor presented an optimistic vision of architectural education—one grounded in entrepreneurial practice and creating new opportunities—at the 2011 ACSA Administrators Conference: Old School/New School in November. (Co-chaired by Dean Norman Millar.)

View her presentation here.

And make sure to listen for her quick-witted description of Woodbury architecture students (present and future) as “entrepreneurial truffle hunters.”

Woodbury School of Architecture San Diego will launch the Master of Science in Architecture, Landscape + Urbanism program in Fall 2012.

We sat down with MSArch L+U director Rene Peralta. Read the Q&A.

The three-semester MSArch L+U degree equips architects with the skills to lead through both the design of the built environment and the crafting of policy. A degree for individuals holding a professional degree in architecture or landscape architecture, the program rethinks the boundaries of architectural practice. Immersed in global issues critical to urban growth—contested territories, cultural differences, globalization, and social and environmental justice—students develop the skills required to assess, envision, and lead spatial change in both established and developing territories.

The recent issue of Architect’s Newspaper includes a review of Phenomenal: California Light, Space, Surface written by Los Angeles faculty member David Freeland.

Phenomenal curator Robin Clark will speak at Woodbury School of Architecture on February 7 at 6:30 p.m.

On January 23, San Diego professors Rene Peralta and Jose Parral will participate in the International Workshop for Social Projects, Chapter 00, Oaxaca.

The workshop builds on the studio they are teaching this spring, where students will visit and design projects in three cities: Guadalajara, Oaxaca and City Heights. The three projects will be dealing with issues of urban mobility (pedestrian, bike and public space interfaces). In the city of Oaxaca they will collaborate with the local community, the Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca and Mexico City-based firm Taller Veinticuatro to design a public park and children’s area for a middle school in the center of the city of Oaxaca.

Congratulations to faculty member Lisa Little. Her installation Wish Canopy (Cloud), designed with LAYER co-founder Emily White, opened at the Skirball Cultural Center on January 12.The canopy is part of the exhibit Women Hold Up Half the Sky developed by consulting curator Karina White and is on view through May 20, 2012.

The Woodbury India studio run by Nick Roberts and Linda Taalman is underway. Architecture students traveled through Ahmadabad, Chandigarh, Dehli, and Agra. You can follow their progress at woodburyindia.blogspot.com.

Many thanks to New York-based journalist and critic Stephen Zacks who attended Aberration:Live and caught the event on video. He posted the footage of Iker Gil and John Szot’s presentations on his site Heroes and Charlatans. Check it out here.

Rick Gooding’s Subterranea drawings now on view in the Wedge Gallery, get’s a stellar write-up at DPR_Barcelona in a piece entitled Subterranea: Excavating spaces from the depths of the mind. With comparisons to the history of utopian renderings.

January’s reading list kicks off with the publication of West of Center: Art and the Counterculture Experiment in American Art, 1965-1977, edited by Elissa Auther and Adam Lerner and published by University of Minnesota Press. The volume includes an essay by San Diego’s Contemporary Issues instructor Eva Isaak, entitled “Collective Movement: Anna and Lawrence Halprin’s Joint Workshops.”

Kubos to undergraduate chair and ACE Center director Jeanine Centuori. The AIA San Fernando Valley honored the ACE Center’s project ACCESS LANDSCAPE, an urban design for Tierra del Sol Foundation, with a 2011 AIA / San Fernando Valley Design Award.

This November, Michael Maltzan sat down with architecture student Ryan Kemp to discuss density, icons, and context, prior to the renown Los Angeles architect’s lecture at Woodbury School of Architecture. Their conversation delved into the complex relationship between the architect, architecture, and the city. Architecture student and videographer Henry Cheung caught it all. Watch here.

A hearty congrats to 5th year student Kevin Le, who was selected as the winner of the AIA San Fernando Valley 25th Anniversary Logo Contest in the December issue of Elevations, the AIA SFV newsletter. To see his winning design and to check out the work of fellow Woodbury School of Architecture students and alums, click here.

The same issue of Elevations also features all the Woodbury School of Architecture AIA SFV Fund Scholarship winners and a great pic from the Grand Critique. We’re very proud of: Ara Hovspyan, Erick Rodriguez, Adrienne Rosa, Kevin Le, Paul Castellanos, Nicklas Yip, Courtney Power, Geovanny Chevez, and Jonathan Garcia. And special thanks to Michael Silva, AIA, and Russell Myers, AIA, for presenting the awards.

In the December issue of Building Design+Construction highlights professor Eric Olsen’s innovative Electro-Conductive Gypsum Wallboard. The editors named it in their top 10 list of “great solutions” that employ new technologies. Olson’s product is a low-voltage surface that lets you plug in your electronics almost anywhere.

Contemporary issues faculty member Ken Ehrlich will lead a Book Bloc Workshop on Friday, December 9 from 1-4 p.m. at Machine Project. Book Blocs riff on a strategy developed by activists in Italy, England, Oakland and beyond who have defended themselves against aggressive batons with bookish shields. Workshop participants will construct shields based on a favorite book cover. Ehrlich suggests you choose your titles carefully, writing, “The shield not only acts as a defense mechanism, it is a visual sign advocating for knowledge and culture in an age of austerity.”

Kudos to San Diego faculty member Robbie Bennett. His practice, Tectu.re, was featured in a San Diego City Beat article entitled San Diego Shape Shifters. Author Kinsee Morlan praised the entrepreneurial office for it’s tenacity, writing “…in the tanked economy they inherited, [the designers] chose to start their own business rather than settling for the few available desk jobs at architecture firms or going through the long process of getting licensed.”

Woodbury School of Architecture in Los Angeles is seeking applicants for the one-year Visiting Faculty Position at the Assistant Professor level.

The Visiting Faculty Position has been established to give promising individuals at the beginning of their teaching career an opportunity to pursue academic and teaching interests.  Visiting Faculty teach three courses per academic year:  two design studios and a research seminar related to their research/creative work.  In addition to teaching, visiting faculty are expected to contribute to the intellectual life of the School and engage in research or creative work. This work is presented through a public lecture and an exhibition or web or print publication. Candidates must have a Master’s degree in their field and a record of accomplishment in design commensurate with their experience. The application must include a proposal for a one-year research project.

Application deadline: February 1, 2012.

Click here for more information.

This Friday, December 9, MSArch L+U director Rene Peralta and Generica Arquitectura founder will present a Path to the Profession lecture to the Southwestern College Architecture Club. As part of the Dine with the Designer series, he’ll share stories, projects, and successes within the profession.

The work of San Diego’s Christopher Puzio was featured in the exhibition MOveMENT: California artists embracing the movements that define the Bay Area. The juried show celebrated California metalsmiths and members of the Metal Arts Guild of San Francisco.

On Thursday December 8, Woodbury Interior Architecture students will take part in the Skid Row community’s “Positive Movement” 4-year Celebration and Acknowledgement, held in conjunction with the Downtown Art Walk.

Students from Design Studio 5: Dwelling and Culture, lead by Lara Hoad, created the exhibit Skid Millionaire Row. The show features “weave” projects developed during the Fall semester, which focus on the blending of two communities—Skid Row and the Historic Core—based around the Hotel Cecil on Main Street. Students include: Estineh Amirian, Cory Brehmer, Nanci Garcilazo, Alina Hartouniyans, Debra Heller, Maria Herrera, Jason Kwong, Sabrina Padila, and Steven Steven.

The event is from 5 p.m.–10 p.m. at The Exchange,  114 W. 5th street in Downtown Los Angeles. Hosted by Skid Row’s ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS and the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council.

Opening: Friday, February 10, 6:30 p.m.
February 7-25
Wedge Gallery

Keith Krumwiede
Opening: Saturday, February 4, 6:00 p.m
February 4-26
WUHO Gallery

Freedomland envisions an American Dream where Tea Party populism meets landscape urbanism. The show is a case of architectural satire attuned to the present realities of politics and economics.

Curator, Phenomenal: California Light, Space, Surface
Tuesday, February 7, 6:30 p.m.
Ahmanson Main Space

Robin Clark is a curator and art historian specializing in intersections between contemporary art and architecture. Her recent exhibitions and publications include Automatic Cities: The Architectural Imaginary in Contemporary Art, which featured work in all media by fourteen international artists (Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, 2009), and Phenomenal: California Light, Space, Surface, a Pacific Standard Time project focused on thirteen artists working in Los Angeles during the 1960s and 70s for whom light was a primary medium (University of California Press and Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, 2011).

The Hollywood Urban Planning Pop-Up Shop by James Rojas opens Sunday, January 22, 2 p.m.

Come join the Woodbury School of Architecture and James Rojas at WUHO. Re-envision the neighborhood with the Hollywood Urban Planning Pop-Up Shop, featuring workshops and an interactive urban diorama by James Rojas, with construction help from Woodbury School of Architecture students.

The Hollywood Urban Planning Shop is a community engagement project that critiques the design of cities today by asking the public to re-imagine Hollywood. The question every Pop-Up Shop visitor must ask his or herself is, “What would Hollywood look like if we rebuilt it today?” The project harnesses the power of the collective community imagination to create an interactive diorama of Hollywood, as it could be. Residents, tourists, visitors—the public—will reflect on, explore, experiment, and ultimately craft their image of a city. Runs thru January 29.

Suberranea: Drawings by Rick Gooding
Opening Friday, January 13 at 6:30 p.m.
Wedge Gallery
Suberranea runs January 10-28, 2012.

For Subterranea, architect Rick Gooding created more than 30 meticulous pencil drawings, each depicting an imaginary underground realm. Winding tunnels and labyrinthine passageways are rendered by hand, resolving into dense, intricate patterns.In an era of digital representation, Gooding celebrates the precise and beautiful craft of manual drafting. He works without rulers or measuring devices and carefully constructs his drawings using the most basic architectural drafting tools: a straight edge, a 314 pencil, and an eraser and erasing shield.

Join MAS Context: ABERRATION editors Iker Gil and John Szot for a one-night-only live publishing event. One part magazine, two parts launch party,  ABERRATION: LIVE is part of Woodbury School of Architecture’s inaugural Publish Or…, a launch series that celebrates and critiques the connections between architecture and publication, print and digital. The event brings together editors, photographers, filmmakers, and architects for an evening of short presentations.
Sonic prologue and afterword by Los Angeles–based Health and Beauty.
Friday, 16 December 2011: 7 p.m.
Woodbury Hollywood Gallery

Woodbury School of Architecture final reviews kick off Wednesday, December 1, and continue Thursday, Friday, and Saturday on the Los Angeles–Burbank campus.

Put down your Xacto knives, switch off the laser cutter, and power down that laptop. All models, drawings, and renderings are complete and another productive semester is nearly history.

This year we’ve assembled a top notch group of critics, including architects, artists, academics, and practitioners from LA and afar. Click here for a full list.

The students and faculty of ARCH 330 invite you to stop by the Wedge Gallery on Tuesday, November 29 between 12:00 and 6:00 to see MANIFESTO! VIVA VOCE, a video installation of work from this semester’s undergraduate Theory class. The videos vocalize contemporary thoughts on theoretical anxieties and agendas as the students answer the question, “What is your manifesto?”

Learn more about the MArch and MSArch programs.
Thursday, December 1, 2011 from 6-8PM.
Kirkendal Conference Room – School of Architecture Faculty Center
To RSVP contact Glisery Colon at 818 252-5234 or glisery.colon@woodbury.edu

OPEN HOUSE FOR PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS
San Diego Event Series
Wednesday, 16 November 2011: 7-8.30pm

Los Angeles Event Series
Friday, 18 November 2011: 7pm
Fletcher Jones Auditorium

Michael Maltzan, FAIA, is principal of Michael Maltzan Architecture in Los Angeles. Building on his background in the arts, he is committed to creating architecture that is a catalyst for new experiences and an agent for change in our cities. This work has been recognized with numerous accolades including five Progressive Architecture awards, 24 citations from the American Institute of Architects, the Rudy Bruner Foundation’s Gold Medal for Urban Excellence, and as a finalist for the Smithsonian/Cooper-Hewitt Museum’s National Design Award. His designs have been profiled in over 100 national and international publications and featured in exhibitions worldwide. He is the author of No More Play: Conversations on Urban Speculation in Los Angeles and Beyond, published in 2011.

Wedge Gallery Event Series
Opening Reception : Tuesday, 15 November 2011: 4.30pm to 8.30pm
November 15 – November 29

1x1x1 is an exhibition of selected work from the first semester of the Woodbury University undergraduate architecture, undergraduate interior architecture, and graduate architecture programs.  It is the second show of the Wedge Gallery in the 2011-12 AQUIFER Exhibition Series.

FILM SCREENING co-sponsored by the LA Forum
Los Angeles Event Series
Friday, 15 November 2011: 6pm
Fletcher Jones Auditorium

BOOK LAUNCH
Woodbury Hollywood Event Series
Sunday, November 13 2011: 7pm
Woodbury Hollywood Gallery

San Diego Event Series
Thursday, 10 November 2011: 6.30pm
www.studioAPT.com

San Diego Event Series
Thursday, 3 November 2011: 6.30pm
www.oylerwu.com

FLUID MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Arid Lands Institute Event Series
Wednesday, 2 November 2011: 6pm
Fletcher Jones Auditorium

THINKING WATER
The Arid Lands Institute Event Series in collaboration with
UCLA’s Institue of the Environment and Sustainability
Saturday, 29 October 2011: 9.30am to 12.30pm
Ahmanson Main Space

Los Angeles Event Series
Sponsored by the School of Architecture, School of Business, School of Media Culture and Design, the Institute of Transdisciplinary Studies, and the Student Development Center
Saturday, 29 October 2011: 10.30am – 5:30pm
Fletcher Jones Auditorium

Wedge Gallery Event Series
in conjunction with Woodbury School of Architecture Fall 2011 Semester of Water
Opening Reception : Friday, October 28 : 6-8pm
October 28 – November 8

Aquifer_I includes recent work by Woodbury School of Architecture students, including ongoing Fall 2011 projects from the A.I.R.Studio: Civic Conduits and Contested Terrain (Arid Investigations and Research) lead by instructors Jennifer Bonner and John Southern, as well as video andslide presentations of recent graduate thesis projects by ALI M.S. Arch students Heath Speakman and Barry Talley, a collaboration between ALI, Woodbury School of Architecture, and the School of Media, Culture, and Design.

A presentation/discussion of the thesis student video and slide show projects will adjoin the exhibition – date to be announced.

Special thanks to : The Arid Lands Institute / Hadley Arnold + Peter Arnold

San Diego Event Series
Thursday, 27 October 2011: 6.30pm
www.future-cities-lab.net

Woodbury Hollywood Gallery Event Series
Saturday, 22 October 2011: 7pm
through 5 November 2011
Woodbury Hollywood Gallery

Woodbury School of Architecture and WUHO Gallery are excited to announce Projections, an exhibition developed, designed, and curated by Boston practice over, under.  The show opens in our Los Angeles venue, fresh from its premiere at pinkcomma in Boston’s South End.

Because Projections asks pointed questions about the future of urban design in our ever digitally mediated world, it is a vital part of any conversation about cities and about Los Angeles.  The curators ask that you download a QR code reader to your smartphone prior to the opening.

Los Angeles Event Series
Wednesday, 14 October 2011: 7pm
Fletcher Jones Auditorium

LA River Master Plan : Urban designer and landscape architect David Fletcher of Fletcher Studio will speak on the development of LA River Master Plan. His work addresses process, void, symbiosis, alternative transportation networks, green infrastructure, and post-industrial urbanism. Fletcher Studio is an innovative practice committed to a collaborative and contextual approach to spatial design practice and to the planning of unique and sustainable landscapes, urban spaces, and living infrastructures. Design and planning solutions come from the interaction with the many people, processes, histories, policies, economies and ecologies that are specific to a place.

San Diego Event Series
Thursday, 13 October 2011: 6.30pm
www.cero9.com

San Diego Event Series
Thursday-Saturday, 15-17 September 2011
Lecture: Trinidad Ruiz | 15 September 6.30pm

See the record of Barrio Scenario 2 here.

Woodbury Hollywood (WUHo) Event Series
Opening* Wednesday 7 September . 7-10pm
Jennifer Bonner

WATERMARKS installation simulates Venice’s Acqua Alta, documents resiliency across the American landscape, and explores representational techniques for water fluctuation.

(On view daily through 11 September . *No stilettos please : skirts are encouraged.)