Southern California Institute of Architecture

SCI-Arc in Los Angeles, California, is an independent, non-profit school offering undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate degrees in architecture. Founded in 1972, SCI-Arc was initially regarded as - both institutionally and artistically - more avant-garde than traditional architecture schools based in the United States.

The school consists of approximately 500 students and 80 faculty members, some of whom are practising architects. It is based in the quarter-mile long (0.40 km) former Santa Fe Freight Depot in the Arts District in downtown Los Angeles, and offers a variety of community events such as outreach programs, free exhibitions, and public lectures.

SCI-Arc offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), including a five-year Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch) program, a 3-year Master of Architecture (M.Arch 1) open to applicants who hold a bachelor's degree or equivalent in any field of study, and a 2-year Master of Architecture (M.Arch 2) open to applicants with a prior undergraduate degree in architecture.

SCI-Arc's public programs invite the community into the school to foster debate and understanding of architecture's capacity to transform the world. A recent program and exhibition, "LA in Wien/Wien in LA," investigated the architecture of Los Angeles and Vienna and their respective influences on one another in over the last century.