HELLO DESIGN
Southern California Institute of Architecture, SCI-Arc, is widely regarded as one of the most avant-garde architecture schools in the U.S., known for pushing the boundaries of academic study by using architecture for both artistic and social experimentation. The school’s website must reflect this community-minded approach by sharing events and news to engage students and architects as well as the nearby community. In SCI-Arc’s new site by Hello Design, a flexible interface and content management system accommodates detailed school information for prospective and current students. An interactive Work section showcases work from students, faculty and alumni to exemplify the institute’s diversity and range.

“We were inspired by the architecture and work produced by SCI-Arc alumni, students and faculty,” says Hello Design creative director David Lai. “We also worked very closely with the school’s design director, Brian Roettinger, who is responsible for the overall design aesthetic of the school and its publications.”

In addition to the expected content on the school’s programs, application process and academic offerings, there were other objectives. The site had to showcase work from the institution, but also communicate SCI-Arc’s focus on the community, which includes urban planning and development, and connections with the architecture community, students, alumni and faculty—in fact, anyone with an interest in architecture.

As Lai points out, many different types of people enjoy finding out what’s going on at SCI-Arc, but the site’s primary audience is prospective students. The latter group is looking for information about the school’s academic programs, admission information and reasons to attend SCI-Arc. The home page is designed to showcase events and news from the school, instead of going for a strictly academic feel. The intention again was to show SCI-Arc as a community-focused institution that provides programs to engage the wider community, not just as a school for architecture. Created using Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, TextEdit, and with a PHP-based content management system, the site includes an extensive video library of lectures and events, and live streaming of lectures on architecture.

“Because we are big fans of architecture, it was a real pleasure to work with architects and learn more about architecture in the process,” says Lai. “We are very happy to say that SCI-Arc is quite pleased … [and] they now can easily update content to keep the site fresh and engaging for users.” Dana Rouse

HELLO DESIGN | CREATIVE DIRECTORS: DAVID LAI, HIRO NIWA | ART DIRECTOR: RON THOMPSON | DESIGNERS: KUNCHE LU, MIDORI YAMANAKA | PROGRAMMERS: HUGO ZHU, JASON TAYLOR PRODUCER: ANNA SIMONSE | CLIENT: SCI-ARC | WWW.HELLODESIGN.COM