LINK Magzine (Fall 2014)

COLLEGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN 3801 West Temple Avenue Pomona, CA 91768 csupomona.edu/~env

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THE COLLEGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN | FALL 2014

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DEAN’S NOTE IN BRIEF FIRST PERSON FACULTY NEWS GRAPHIC DESIGN GOES GLOBAL IMPROVING POMONA’S ENVIRONMENT LANDSCAPING TO HELP THOSE IN NEED HIGHER EDUCATION IN BOYLE HEIGHTS NEUTRA HOUSE REBIRTH REVAMP THE CAMP

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about the cover: Department of Architecture graduate students this past spring designed a cabin prototype for the Department of Parks and Recreation at the request of the Parks Forward Commission. The cabin was showcased at the California State Fair in Sacramento and the L.A. County Fair in Pomona. Read more on Page 30.

Photo by Paul Vu.

INSIDE COVER PHOTOS: Courtesy of Irma Ramirez, Andy Wilcox and Tom Zasadzinski.

MANAGING EDITOR Benjamin Demers ART DIRECTION Studio Fuse, Inc. PHOTOGRAPHY Tom Zasadzinski COLLEGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN LEADERSHIP Michael Woo, Dean Carrie Geurts, Interim Associate VP for Advancement Julianna Delgado, Interim Associate Dean Sarah Lorenzen, Department of Architecture Chair Sarah Meyer, Department of Art Chair Lee-Anne Milburn, Department of Landscape Architecture Chair Richard Willson, Department of Urban and Regional Planning Chair Kyle Brown, John T. Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies Director  SOCIAL MEDIA www.facebook.com/cppenv www.twitter.com/cppenv

A CHANCE FOR OUR STUDENTS TO SHINE In the College of Environmental Design, we believe in being opportunistic (in the best sense): seizing opportunities, even if they are unexpected, to give our students a chance to shine.

The cabin vividly portrayed on the cover of this issue of Link magazine is a good example of the way it works. In July 2013, I received a phone message from John Laird, Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency. In our college student days 42 years earlier, John and I were summer interns sharing a Capitol Hill townhouse In Washington, D.C. Each of us subsequently pursued a career in public service, John in state government and me at the local level. Even though we were aware of each other, there had been virtually no contact between us for decades.

Consequently, a phone message from a former roommate caught my attention. When we connected on the phone a few days later, John asked whether I would be willing to serve on a volunteer basis as a member of the California Parks Forward Commission, a new blueribbon commission operating independently of state government and funded by a consortium of some of the most prominent charitable foundations in the state.

I had plenty of other things to do with my time.

But I found it hard to resist the opportunity to be part of a fresh look at one of the toughest problems facing state government.

The commission’s charge would be to develop new directions for California’s state parks, the largest and arguably grandest state park system in the nation. I was aware that the state Department of Parks and Recreation had sustained major blows in recent years from sharp budget cuts and management challenges. When I thought about the astonishing inventory of California’s state parks­—redwood forests, state beaches, the deserts, historical landmarks—I realized that it represented the state’s material patrimony to future generations of Californians. It was a real opportunity to do some good.

At our meetings around the state, one of the main issues to emerge was the relevancy of state parks to California’s future population.

The fastest-growing areas of the state, and the bulk of the state’s current and future population, are located far from many of the state parks. In addition, many of the newest and fastest-growing demographic groups in California do not have a tradition of visiting the state parks.

It was natural that access and outreach questions would gravitate to me. Because I am an urban planner with an interest in transportation, and because my role at Cal Poly Pomona grounds me in issues of social and ethnic diversity on a daily basis, I was asked to come up with ideas for reaching out to millennials and urban residents who do not think of state parks as a destination.

Lance Conn, the commission co-chair, was aware that I am dean of a college which trains architects and other environmental design professionals. He asked whether our faculty and students could come up with creative ideas for cabins or other camping facilities which could appeal to young people and city dwellers.

I turned to Associate Professor Juintow Lin of our Department of Architecture who immediately recognized the opportunity for the students in her ARC 503 graduate design studio. In only 10 weeks, the creative output of her students fully exemplified Cal Poly Pomona’s “learn-by-doing” creed applied to the real-life needs of California’s state parks.

Read the inspiring story by turning to the article which begins on page 30.

MICHAEL WOO Dean, College of Environmental Design

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IN BRIEF

ART DEPARTMENT GRANTED ACCREDITATION National Association of Schools of Art and Design officials have announced that they have concluded an evaluation and granted accreditation to the Department of Art. The association’s Commission on Accreditation had initially approved the department’s 10-year accreditation in April 2010, but required that certain follow-up reports be completed. Final approval came in June 2014.

Babette Mayor, a graphic design professor and former chair of the department, said she was confident that any of the association’s concerns would be resolved.

“On a personal level, accreditation means a lot to me because I have invested many years in helping to build a quality department through maintaining high standards, building programs and hiring quality faculty,” said Mayor, who was hired at the university in 1990.

In a letter to current department Chair Sarah Meyer, the association’s Executive Director Karen P. Moynihan wrote that she appreciated the work accomplished by the department on behalf of visual arts and design as well as higher education.

The John T. Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies has helped Cal Poly Pomona students and the local community understand what it takes to have a sustainable environment for the past two decades.

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The association’s next review of the department will be in the 2018-19 school year.

Tom Zasadzinski.

LYLE CENTER CELEBRATES 20 YEARS the center has been visited by thousands of The John T. Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies in May celebrated two decades of helping Cal Poly Pomona students and the local community understand what it takes to have a sustainable environment.

Educators on the 16-acre center at 4105 W. University Drive have taught students and outside groups the components and practices that lead to an improved environment since 1994. During that time,

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people wanting to learn how to ensure that necessary resources such as food, water and energy are available for generations.

The center offers graduate students an interdisciplinary master of science degree in regenerative studies and a regenerative studies minor to undergraduates.

A 20th anniversary celebration took place on May 17 at the center.

National Association of Schools of Art and Design granted accreditation to the Department of Art in the spring. Photo: Tom Zasadzinski

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INK & CLAY CELEBRATES 40TH SHOW Ink & Clay celebrated its 40th competition in the fall against the backdrop of an everevolving art world.

The competition at the W. Keith and Janet Kellogg University Art Gallery consisted of ceramics, clay sculpture, drawing, mixedmedia and printmaking works that use ink and clay as materials.

Ceramic and print artists from throughout the country submitted their work, making it a national show for just the second time.

“Despite advancements in technology, I think over the years it has been a welcome thing to keep the more artisanal types of media alive,” says Michele Cairella Fillmore, the gallery director and Ink & Clay 40 coordinator. “I definitely believe there is a place for it.”

Ink & Clay was born in the 1970s during a burst of creative expression in the arts, but over the years the technical arts of ceramics and printmaking have waned on

ART LECTURER’S NEW BOOK FEATURES “100 NOT SO FAMOUS VIEWS OF L.A.” Barbara Thomason, a lecturer in the Department of Art, has compiled a book of paintings and writings about Los Angeles called “100 Not So Famous Views of L.A.” The subjects in the book, which was released in September, highlight the unique parts of the city that aren’t plastered on postcards or shown on movie screens.

Paintings include Western Exterminator’s sign along the 101 Freeway, the Los Angeles police gun range near Elysian Park and the Felix the Cat sign above Felix Chevrolet near

university campuses. In many cases, technology-driven art has supplanted the older, more traditional disciplines.

An evolution in art that blends the old with the new is taking place, Cairella Fillmore says.

“You can’t hold back. Artists want to explore further and expand. I think that’s what we are seeing right now.”

There was $8,000 in cash prizes awarded through a posthumous sponsorship from Col. James H. Jones and the Office of Cal Poly Pomona President Michael Ortiz.

Ink & Clay 40 ran from September 13 to October 23. Cash prizes totaling about $8,000 were awarded through a posthumous sponsorship from Col. James H. Jones and the Office of Cal Poly Pomona President Michael Ortiz.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.inkclay40.com www.facebook.com/kelloggartgallery

the University of Southern California campus.

Thomason gave herself a set of rules for the paintings: compositions were 14 inches by 9 inches, techniques were of bokashi, or color gradations that are common in Ukiyo-e woodcuts, and the subjects had to be in the officially defined boundaries of Los Angeles.

“100 Not So Famous Views of L.A.” was published by Pasadena-based Prospect Park Books in September.

Ordering information for “100 Not So Famous Views of L.A” is available at http://bit.ly/thomasonbook.

To view paintings in the book, visit http://bit.ly/thomasonprints.

ASLA ELEVATES LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE CHAIR TO ITS COUNCIL OF FELLOWS The American Society of Landscape Architects elevated Lee-Anne Milburn in June to its Council of Fellows for 2014.

She was nominated by the executive committee of the Southern California Chapter of the ASLA. Milburn is chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture Fellowship is one of the highest honors that the national association can bestow on members and recognizes their impact on the landscape architecture profession as well as society.

“Elevation to fellow is one of the highlights of my career to this point. To have this level of recognition from my peers, professionals and others means a great deal,” says Milburn, who has been department chair and an associate professor at Cal Poly Pomona since 2010.

“I’m looking forward to getting involved with the council and its efforts to promote student scholarships and the future of the profession.”

The American Society of Landscape Architects elevated Department of Landscape Architecture Chair Lee-Anne Milburn to its Council of Fellows for 2014. She was nominated by the executive committee of the Southern California Chapter of the ASLA. Photo: Courtesy

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FIRST PERSON

DESIGNS FOR STARDOM Department of Art graduate Luis Betancourt creates album covers, merchandise, logos and more for will.i.am

TO VIEW MORE OF LUIS BETANCOURT’S WORK, VISIT: www.behance.net/kunturmarqa/

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There may not be a more creative artist than pop star will.i.am, and Luis Betancourt is keeping right up with him.

While studying graphic design at Cal Poly Pomona, Betancourt took advantage of an internship at a company run by the rapper, entertainer and philanthropist. Betancourt’s quick success led him to a full-time job and the opportunity to design a substantial amount of assets for will.i.am: Logos. Stage graphics. Album covers. Merchandise.

Consumer products. Basically, if you have seen a will.i.am design element in the past three years, there is a strong likelihood that Betancourt had a part to play in its creation.

“It is not always easy working for a celebrity and this celebrity is very ambitious and has high expectations,” says Eddie Axley, who runs the design department at will.i.am’s Beverly Hills-based company, i.am.bizzy.

“Luis always rises to the occasion and brings different ideas to the table.”

a good idea to have him on your team.”

Betancourt, a native of Colombia, graduated in 2011 from Cal Poly Pomona with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design.

“At Cal Poly, you learn how to do things the right way in the art classes,” Betancourt says.

“It is a process, where solid steps have to be taken.”

Betancourt asserted a quiet authority while at Cal Poly Pomona that instilled the same confidence in his peers and raised the level of discourse among his colleagues, who greatly respect and admire him, says Sarah Meyer, Chair of the Department of Art. “He was always that person who you would say one thing to him and he would take it seven different directions further,” Meyer says. “He was somebody who you would only have to tell something to once. He will take the initiative and go forward with it and not parrot back to you what you already talked about.”

Close to his graduation, a graphic designer at will.i.am’s company, then called Dip Dive, visited the campus looking for an intern.

Betancourt filled out an application and was quickly hired to work out of the company’s Atwater Village office.

He soon got to work –LUIS BETANCOURT designing logos for Eyed Peas, the pop group that the artist The Black Eyed Peas and his skills fronted. Betancourt has since contributed eventually landed him a full-time job. designs, branding and iconography for “It is such a great company because Will is will.i.am’s “willpower” album released in a very creative person. He always has 2013 and worked on promotional artwork for something new,” Betancourt says. the ensuing world tour. He also helped develop the logo for i.am.angel, will.i.am’s Will.i.am’s interest in doing things private foundation, and created motion differently has pushed Betancourt into graphics for concert displays. countless directions. Axley says it is not uncommon for the artist to give the design Axley raves about Betancourt’s skill set, but team a task that they have no previous also references his amazing character and experience with. positive personality, as well as their easy working relationship.

“He knows that he is giving you an opportunity, but he only gives it to you if you “He is very loyal and very hardworking,” have the strength and the heart to try and Axley says. “He really wants it. When you see figure it out,” Axley said. someone with that much hunger it is probably Betancourt’s first design work with will.i.am entailed creating type treatment for a logo on the album cover of “The E.N.D.” by The Black

“EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT WORKING, ALWAYS DO SOMETHING FOR YOURSELF”

ABOVE: Luis Betancourt created this image of will.i.am’s face that appeared on merchandise throughout the willpower concert tour in 2013. PHOTO: Courtesy.

“Having Luis on the team helps the situation because he is a very critical thinker. He loves mechanical engineering and is interested in coding and tech. All cool things that require a lot of thinking. He loves solving problems and that’s what we do best for will.i.am.”

Betancourt’s most prominent work was creating a rendition of will.i.am’s face that adorned almost all of the memorabilia during the willpower tour in 2013. It was meticulous process that took days to fine tune.

“The first thing I did was get the photo and put it in Illustrator. I then drew every single line by hand. You just use your judgment to get the expression right so it doesn’t look dull and has some attitude,” Betancourt says. “You just play with it so much until it looks like him, it looks nice and it looks alive.”

Will.i.am’s countless ideas have forced Betancourt to develop new skills but also feeds his need to stay busy in the competitive design world, a message that he hopes other graphic design students consider.

“Even if you are not working, always do something for yourself. Students need to know that,” Betancourt says. “Always do something and publish it because you never know who will see your work. Never be still.”

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FIRST PERSON

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES Department of Architecture graduate Itzel Ortega gets past immigration hurdles Itzel Ortega was helping teachers and administrators at Westmont Elementary School set up for a science fair this past spring when she shared some of her background with them.

Ortega, who recieved a bachelor’s degree in architecture in June, talked about living in the United States while undocumented, her acceptance into President Barack Obama’s deferred action program, and those who worked to ensure that she attend Cal Poly Pomona.

“What a trouper,” says Cynthia Badillo, principal at Westmont Elementary in the Pomona Unified School District.

“Considering all of the obstacles she faced, she didn’t give up. I felt moved.”

Ortega also mentioned a Los Angeles Times article that profiled her journey through the immigration system. After reading the article, Badillo requested that teachers of the school’s soon-to-be graduating sixth-graders be assigned to read it. Ortega, a rather private person, requested her name be blacked out.

Ortega was working at the school that has a mostly Hispanic student body as part of the Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies Fellowship program funded by the Ernest J. Prete Foundation. She taught students about science and the environment while

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stressing that college should be a goal for all of them. Sixth graders had developed such a fondness for Ortega, due to her caring nature and sharp intellect, that she was asked to speak at their graduation ceremonies, a first for a fellow from Cal Poly Pomona. On graduation day, Ortega gave what Badillo described as an amazing speech. She told the students that anything was possible and to never give up.

“I said I am no different than they are and they can accomplish so much more,” Ortega says. “You just have to try hard and have a fountain of support within the family structure. There are just so many other people who want to help.”

Ortega also mentioned that she was the person in the newspaper article. While students shared surprised looks, parents toward of the back of the room shouted appreciation and loudly applauded. Their reaction started a wave that enveloped the entire room.

“It was really emotional, just a great way to send off the kids,” Badillo says. “They had made this amazing connection with Itzel. A lot of them said they wanted to be architects because of her. She inspired them quite a bit.”

Ortega’s parents emigrated from Mexico to the United States when she was just 6

months old. Her father found work at fast-food restaurants to support the family, but he failed to qualify for the Immigration Reform & Control Act of 1986 that would have provided the family with proof of citizenship. Ortega said she wasn’t impacted by this until she was in ninth grade at South El Monte High School and applied for a program at an area college. Even though she had the necessary grades, she was turned down for pre-college enrichment because her family lacked proof of citizenship.

“That was my first realization of the extent of the impact of who I am,” Ortega says. “It was the first time I cried in a long time.”

Ortega said she faced a crossroads after receiving the rejection notice. She could continue working to try to achieve the American Dream, despite the obstacles she would face, or be resigned to her fate of living in the unknown.

“My internal desire just to learn made me take the harder route,” Ortega says.

former student walk away from a college education due to financial reasons and offered to pay her tuition.

“Her father had a similar story to my story and he was eventually able to receive proper immigration status,” Ortega says.

“She saw herself in me.”

Ortega flourished in the architecture department, where she said she made cherished relationships with peers and teachers. She also became involved in projects and studios with students from other majors.

In summer 2012, Obama unveiled the deferred action program that would allow young, undocumented immigrants to receive work permits and a two-year reprieve from deportation.

“This was perfect timing. I couldn’t work in internships because I didn’t have legal status and I needed 500 hours of work experience from Cal Poly to graduate,” Ortega says.

“I WANT TO ENCOURAGE ALL OF THEM THAT IF I CAN DO IT THEN THEY CAN AS WELL.”–ITZEL ORTEGA That harder route pushed her to get top marks in her high school classes and then at Rio Hondo College. During this time, she also gave back to the community by tutoring students at her former school, Potrero Elementary in El Monte.

Ortega was eventually accepted into the Department of Architecture at Cal Poly Pomona, but her immigration status disqualified her from necessary financial aid.

Her dedication to learning as well as her sharp mind had impressed a host of teachers over the years, including Leticia Arreola at El Monte’s Potrero Elementary School. Arreola couldn’t bear to see her

She taught herself how to fill out the necessary paperwork and received her work permits in December 2012.

“I do have deferred action, Social Security identification, a work permit, but I cannot leave the country,” Ortega says. “That is the last thing that is keeping me from freedom, which is to be where you want to be when you want to be there. I was denied those things. I would like to see my grandparents and other relatives in Mexico and would like the chance to reconnect with where I came from.”

Since the Los Angeles Times article on her journey was published in April 2013, she completed her graduation requirements and took part in the yearlong fellowship

program, which enables Westmont students to be educated on environmental topics and ways to get into college.

“Our fellowship program focuses on empowering elementary school children to not just be stewards of the environment, but to also become valuable contributors to their communities, and illuminate opportunities which they may not be aware are available to them, such as higher education,” Lyle Center Director Kyle D. Brown says.

“Itzel is such a wonderful role model. Her story embodies the spirit and values of our program, and her experiences allow her to connect with the students at Westmont, because many of them are experiencing similar challenges.”

Because of all of those who have helped her graduate, Ortega says she realizes that she has so much to give back.

“I consider myself a typical kid in El Monte who grew up with the same struggles, who had the same possibilities to fall into gangs, drugs, alcoholism, but I chose not to,” Ortega says.

“I know a lot of people who chose not to but they don’t feel encouraged to get a career. I want to encourage all of them that if I can do it then they can as well.”

Despite her short time at Westmont Elementary, Badillo says Ortega and her story have been inspirational.

“Itzel is a model person that we would want in our country,” Badillo says. “She is the kind of person we need to have.”

TO READ THE LOS ANGELES TIMES ARTICLE ON ITZEL ORTEGA, VISIT: http://bit.ly/itzelortega.

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A WORLD CUP CLASSIC Stadium designed by firm led by Marc Schulitz, assistant professor in architecture, serves as sharp-looking host to soccer thrillers Soccer fans this summer watched World Cup games at a much talked-about stadium in Brazil designed by an architecture firm led

by Marc Schulitz, an assistant professor in the Department of Architecture, and his brother, Claas Schulitz.

The 48,747-seat Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador cost more than $250 million to build and is just the latest sports stadium completed by Schulitz’s family-owned, Germany-based company, Schulitz Architekten. Schulitz and his firm were also in charge of the HDI-Arena in Hanover, which was previously called the 2006 FIFA World Cup Arena, and the Lentpark ice and swim stadium in Cologne. But the World Cup was a totally different experience for Schulitz. While watching Netherlands take

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on Costa Rica in seats right behind one of the goals, Schulitz said he felt a sense of satisfaction seeing and hearing the excitement and emotion from the fans.

“It’s a stage and the world is focused on this stage that you created and it goes out into the world and that’s the moment of total satisfaction,” Schulitz said. “It’s not the stadium itself because you’ve been with that for so long but it’s the moment to see people interact with it and appreciate the stadium.”

The stadium was a focal point during the competition because of a wealth of goals in its first four games as well as it being the site of the United States’ elimination game against Belgium in the Round of 16.

Arena Fonte Nova, which took five years from design to completion and opened in 2013, has a U-shaped form that is similar to the typology of stadiums in ancient Greece. This opening of the stadium provides a vista to a lake and city life in Salvador.

“A great thing about our stadium design was that it’s actually in the city and connected to the surrounding neighborhood, and that is something that works best in a setting like the World Cup” Schulitz said.

Schulitz saw this excitement prior to the July 5 match pitting Netherlands against Costa Rica. Starting in the morning, fans would gather in the center of the city. Many of them ran around the streets singing and pounding drums. As game time approached, the crowd moved toward the stadium and became louder and louder. Once at the stadium, there was an incredible buildup of tension and emotion, Schulitz said.

“Being in the crowd and going to the stadium as a regular spectator was a great feeling because you’re one of the 48,000 people who go in there and you also see how these people really appreciate your work,” he said.

While views of the lake grabbed much of the attention from fans in the stadium and those watching on television, the U-shaped opening also helps air circulation and allows workers to quickly set up and remove equipment and infrastructure on a stage while other events are taking place on the field.

One of the most talked-about aspects of the stadium was its roof. The roof incorporates a spoked-wheel system and lacks beams, making it one of the lightest roofs on any sports stadium in the world at just under 100 pounds per square meter. It also uses a membrane structure pierced by connecting vertical struts that reduces the need for materials.

“There is a compression ring on the outside and everything in there is in tension, and by doing that you get rid of all of the heavy

beams and material,” Schulitz said.

“There has been a lot of progress made structurally and architecturally regarding how to build a roof like this with minimum use of material.”

Fans and officials were impressed by the lightness and the sophisticated network of cables that make the roof, Schulitz said.

This design helped the roof meet functionality requirements such as for sight lines, drainage and protection from the sun and wind. Its sustainable construction earned the stadium a LEED Silver certification.

“It is a more classic stadium because it has a roof that’s separated from the stands, so people really see the roof as a special entity that is on the stadium,” Schulitz said.

Based in Braunschweig, Germany, Schulitz Architekten had been previously run by Schulitz’s father. Schulitz Architekten, which just works on stadiums and has a staff of about 15 architects, went up against several larger firms in an international competition in 2008 organized by the state of Bahia in Brazil for a contract to build Arena Fonte Nova.

Schulitz started teaching architecture last fall at Cal Poly Pomona “He is a very accomplished designer, but who is interested in technical, structural parts of design and can move back and forth between teaching material, technology and structures and teaching very high level design concepts and ideas,” said Sarah Lorenzen, chair of the Department of Architecture.

“As a polytechnic, it is really ideal for us.

That is really what we want.”

OTHER STADIUMS BY SCHULITZ ARCHITEKTEN HDI ARENA Hanover, Germany, 2005 Hosted the 2006 FIFA World Cup and hosts Hannover 96, a German professional soccer team

EIS ARENA Wolfsburg, Germany, 2006 Hosts EHC Wolfsburg Grizzly Adams, a German professional hockey team

LENTPARK Cologne, Germany, 2011 Hosts hockey games and figure skating competitions

EGETRANS ARENA Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany, 2012 Hosts the Bietigheim Steelers, a German professional hockey team

EINTRACHT STADION Braunschwieg , Germany, 2013 Hosts Eintracht Braunschweig, a German professional soccer team and the New Yorker Lions, a German team that plays American football TOP LEFT: A company led by Marc Schulitz designed Arena Fonte Nova; LOWER LEFT: ABOVE: Schulitz Architekten has designed several other stadiums such as Lentpark in Cologne, Germany. PHOTOS: Courtesy and Tom Zasadzinski

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GARY McGAVIN Decades of experience designing public and institutional facilities.

Served as earthquake engineer for nuclear power plants as well as the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.

State Seismic Safety commissioner and Earthquake Engineering Research Institute member.

Taught in the Department of Architecture at Cal Poly Pomona since 1998.

WORKING TO ENSURE SAFETY Architecture Professor Gary McGavin named to team overseeing implementation of an earthquake early warning system in California

With long-standing concerns that a devastating earthquake will strike California sooner rather than later, a team of statewide officials, analysts and experts has been tasked with developing a viable early-warning system to ensure that enough notice is given to ensure safety.

As officials were being appointed to committees, architecture Professor Gary McGavin noticed a couple of omissions: The committees didn’t include architects or anyone who had prepared fire and police stations as well as hospitals for earthquakes.

“I stuck my hand in the air and said, ‘How about me?’ ” said McGavin, a licensed architect who teaches structures and design studios. “I think I am the guy because I designed all of those things. I know what they need.”

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McGavin was quickly appointed to the Standards Committee. Its members will attempt to answer questions such as the size and type of earthquakes that warrant warnings, how data should be collected and distributed, and what the tolerance is for false alarms. Gov. Jerry Brown’s Office of Emergency Services and the U.S. Geological Survey will oversee the work by the state’s Earthquake Early Warning System team as well as its commissions. Meetings started this summer.

An early-warning system consists of ground motion sensors that communicate with central processing systems. Algorithms provide a description of the earthquake and an emergency alert notice goes out to the necessary parties if warranted, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

“An early-warning system is exactly the same as a fire detection system. It gives you an early warning. It doesn’t predict the fire.

It doesn’t put the fire out. It just lets you take evasive action,” McGavin says.

The alert could give notices from a few seconds for shallow earthquakes to a couple of minutes for locales a couple of hundred miles away from the epicenter.

A prototype of an early-warning system recently had success in March when a team of scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey received a four-second heads-up before the magnitude-5.1 quake struck near La Habra.

Coachella Valley has deployed a system that alerts safety personnel before the ground starts to shake, and successes in Imperial County led its Board of Supervisors to sign off on a contract that would allow for the creation of the nation’s first regional warning system.

The Golden State, though, is running behind in creating a trusted system that informs residents about an impending earthquake in a necessary time frame as well as offer safety personnel the opportunity to easily communicate in the immediate seconds following the start of an earthquake, McGavin says.

“Other countries have an early-warning system. Mexico and Japan have an earlywarning system,” McGavin says. “I want to see this get going in California as a statewide system.“ “The proof that it works is in the Coachella and Imperial valleys. They are almost ready to go online with a system provided by Seismic Warning Systems of Los Gatos, which is a state-of-the-art, privately designed system. We should have an operational statewide system sooner rather than later that incorporates a public-private partnership.”

The committee that McGavin is a member of will also explore the levels of warnings for stakeholders such as hospitals, cities, counties, emergency services and schools.

This is an area of expertise for McGavin, who has compiled countless pages of research on how to keep these critical facilities operational in the aftermath of a disaster. He was also the lead architect of Landers Elementary School, which was situated less than 0.4 mile from the devastating 7.3-magnitude earthquake near the town of Landers in 1992. The building shook but stood strong and sustained minimal damage.

“I believe the best decision an architect can make is in a logical building configuration so that there is an adequate load path for

all of the energy that is put into the building, and an earthquake can put a lot of energy into the building,” McGavin says.

Groups like the Standards Committee are typically run by geophysicists and engineers and do not include architects, but, McGavin says, an exception was made for him because he has a degree in geology and was a practicing geologist as well as a practicing architect.

“He is a tough teacher, a no-nonsense kind of guy who cares a huge amount that students understand,” says Sarah Lorenzen, chair of the Department of Architecture.

“A lot of us are interested in teaching them how to be good designers. Gary values design but he understands his role is the one to say that there is more to it than that.

He is the one that says, ‘This is how you put a building together. This is what matters.

This is how you keep the health, safety and welfare of the population.’ ” So how important is it for California to have an early-warning system?

“I do believe we’ll have an earthquake on the San Andreas Fault or another fault and I believe it will be a nasty thing to live through because of all of the infrastructure that crosses it,” McGavin says.

“We are not prepared for it. Our infrastructure is not prepared for it. We could be but we are not.”

The timeline for implementation of an early-warning system in California is undetermined because a funding mechanism has not been finalized.

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GRAPHIC DESIGN GOES GLOBAL Students share their ideas, concepts and designs with leading technology company This past spring quarter, a small team of Cal Poly Pomona graphic design students was selected by UST Global, an information technology provider that has offices throughout the world, to present their cutting edge app design.

As part of UST Global’s User Experience Graphic Design Outreach program, the team, comprised of Fariha Alhassen, Amanda Glover, and Kim Vo, showed their smart-phone app called La Luna, a fictional nonprofit providing family planning information, to the Aliso Viejo-based company’s CEO Sajan Pillai and top executive staff in June.

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As part of UST Global’s UX Graphic Design Outreach Program, students Fariha Alhassen, Kim Vo and Amanda Glover in the spring quarter created a mobile application that would allow women to order prescriptions for birth control pills. PHOTO: Tom Zasadzinski

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UST Global worked with Cal Poly Pomona to seek out the best and brightest graphic design students in Southern California to identify a problem, define a concept, and design a mobile app solution. Such a challenge revolutionizes the idea of a traditional design student from problem solver to problem seeker in a true learn-bydoing atmosphere.

about the products, the app, and any health care concerns.

practice,” says Sarah Meyer, chair of the art department at Cal Poly Pomona.

“This app makes it simple for us to get necessary products because I’m sure a lot of us struggle getting our products on time,” Vo says.

The relationship is something the department will be continuing this fall when UST Global and Legos team up to provide the students with a new design challenge.

Under the direction of Associate Professor Melissa Flicker and Assistant Professor Anthony Acock, the students presented their final proof of concept to UST Global officials.

Their work was assessed for originality of concept, content, asset development, design and professionalism of presentation. The students’ creative talent was a hit with UST Global leaders, including Chief Information Officer Tony Velleca.

“UST Global UX Graphic Design Outreach Program is a great way for the technology industry and higher education to come together for the betterment of future generations,” Velleca says. “By reaching out to creatively-driven students instead of engineering talent, we get a different type of business solution that focuses on customer loyalty.”

Such an in-depth app as La Luna doesn’t currently exist in the market, and the concept is the result of rigorous research, first-hand knowledge, competitive auditing, and product testing. The implications are that this app could radically change the way women make choices about their health care.

Alhassen and Vo demonstrated to the executives from UST Global how the app allows women to manage prescriptions, schedules, and purchases. The app is also tied to a private online community where women can communicate with each other

Alhassen and Vo presented their app in June to UST Global officials at the company’s headquarters in Aliso Viejo. (Left to Right) Sarah Meyer, Art Department Chair; Michael Woo, College of Environmental Design Dean; Tony Velleca, UST Global Chief Information Officer; Sajan Pillai, Chief Executive Officer of UST Global; Vo; Alhassen; Melissa Flicker, Art Department Associate Professor; and Anthony Acock, Assistant Professor in the Art Department attended. PHOTO: Courtesy.

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The visual language and UX design of La Luna is modern, sleek and easily navigable.

It utilizes bright purples and teals with a maximum amount of white space to provide the user clear functionality in a holistic environment.

“The students worked hard and the concept was well founded. But most importantly, by partnering with a global company like UST Global, our students experience research, strategic, and visual concept development for large corporations as a high impact

UST Global is planning to hire up to 75 graphic designers in the next year to work in the company’s interactive media, design and visual engineering departments. Having the opportunity to present to UST Global while still a student puts Cal Poly Pomona on the vanguard of design education.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE MOBILE APP, VISIT HAKIMODESIGN.COM/LALUNA

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COMMITTED TO EMPOWERING THE ENTIRE CITY Lyle Center agroecologist Juan Araya works to improve the environment on and off campus in Pomona Juan Araya wants to see a garden in every school in the Pomona Unified School District, just like in his native Costa Rica.

Considering his recent successes, that goal may not be far-fetched.

The site technician and agroecologist at the Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies has developed at least eight garden projects in the area in recent years. A community garden at Lopez Elementary School has become so popular that more than 100 members of the school community will show up at times to work the field. These engagement efforts aim to improve the lives of Pomona residents through home-grown food, Araya says.

“It is a personal belief of mine that the university should reach out to the local community in a way that is giving back to the community and not so much taking in the sense of bringing in students,” he says.

Araya has devoted many hours to help locals, especially students, appreciate organic food production, but that is just a part of his work. He teaches classes, sets up

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laboratories, and leads tours and demonstrations for schools and community groups at the Lyle Center.

Each workday morning, Araya and a handful of students can be seen diligently working on the center’s grounds: harvesting crops, planting seeds, pulling weeds and cleaning ponds.

“I’m not one to look at people work,” Araya said. “I want to work.”

Araya’s expertise in organic food production and his commitment to empowering marginalized communities is a great help, Lyle Center Director Kyle D. Brown says.

“He tirelessly devotes his time to such efforts, which furthers the center’s mission, but which also provides critical service to communities, particularly communities of economic hardship,” Brown says.

Araya passes on the knowledge he has gained since he started working in the late 1990s at the center to help local elementary school students realize all of the possibilities available to them.

“IF YOU WANT TO SUSTAIN YOURSELF, YOU NEED TO KNOW HOW TO GROW FOOD.” –JUAN ARAYA “A lot of the kids don’t have the opportunity to grow food. If you want to sustain yourself, you need to know how to grow food,” he says.

“I see a lot of kids who don’t get that opportunity so they don’t appreciate food, where food comes from, and what goes into food and because of that they don’t appreciate their local environment.”

Most recently, Araya has worked with Pomona Unified School District administrators, teachers, students and their family members to create a 2.5-acre community garden at Lopez Elementary School.

“What is perhaps most appreciated by the community is his willingness to roll up his sleeves and help out with any task that needs to be completed,” Brown says.

Araya helped lead Regenerative Pomona members to secure the property for the community garden, develop a vision, organize work parties, obtain donations of materials, and other efforts. Regenerative Pomona is a group of community leaders, pastors and Cal Poly Pomona faculty and staff members who work to make the city more sustainable.

Araya will show students the basics of planting a seed in the ground and tilling the soil and also explain the intricacies of the germination process, botany of plants and nutritional components of food.

For many Pomona Unified students, such as those attending Lopez Elementary, Araya’s teachings are their first interaction with eating healthy. A great number of the students have never pulled a radish or seen a carrot grow in the ground. By having these discussions, Araya is providing students with ways to better the health of their families, as well as their finances.

“One tomato, a pepper, eggplant and cilantro for a Hispanic family in Pomona—that produces a lot of food … and that introduces the kids to the idea that, ‘Hey, I can always grow food. I’m

not going to be hungry,’” Araya says.

But in order to have a school garden succeed, Araya says he needs a total commitment from the students as well as parents and administrators. Parents need to make sure their kids stay away from video games on Saturday morning and head down to the garden to work.

Administrators need to make sure that necessary resources— such as water—are available for the garden to thrive. Araya wants designs, resources and labor to come from the school community so that the garden is sustained for a long time.

With the community so involved, there will be a sense of ownership of the garden.

The lessons learned at Lopez Elementary School were evident on a recent day at the garden when more than 175 people showed up to help. Pomona Unified Superintendent Richard Martinez also attended and was pleased to see the impact that the garden has had on the school, Araya says.

When he was 10 years old, Araya moved to Twentynine Palms from Costa Rica. All of the schools in Costa Rica have a garden and, once a week, students from each grade would have to work in it. This is what he would like to see in Pomona.

“I think we want a garden in every school in Pomona,” says Araya, who received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Cal Poly Pomona.

Araya says his journey was not easy, so he feels a need to make it easier for others.

“I’m an immigrant to this country and kids ask me, ‘You went to college? You teach?’ I say, ‘Yes. It’s going to be hard but you can do it too,’ ” Araya says. “I hope to go and work with these kids and that at least one of them says ‘I’m going to school and get a degree in plant science and continue to go to school.’”

REWARDED BY THE COMMUNITY Cal Poly Pomona’s Center for Community Engagement honored Juan Araya in April with the 2014 Staff Award for Civic Engagement.

Araya was joined by several people and groups at an April 17 ceremony on the Cal Poly Pomona campus where they were honored for their work in the community and helping to bring positive social change, integrating service-learning into the curriculum and encouraging others to be engaged.

Araya’s work at Lopez Elementary School in Pomona as well as the tours that he hosts for school and community groups at the Lyle Center were mentioned in a Center for Community Engagement news release announcing the winners.

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A CHICKEN COOP TO HELP THOSE IN NEED

Landscape architecture students support nonprofit’s mission of helping parolees A chicken coop created in a landscape architecture studio this past spring with reused materials has provided a perfect alignment with the efforts of Alma Backyard Farms.

The East Los Angeles-based nonprofit aims to reconnect formerly incarcerated parents with their children by using backyards as mini-farms. In these plots, parents harvesting crops can work off their probation alongside their children.

Students in landscape architecture Associate Professor Andy Wilcox’s LA 499 studio designed the chicken coop that has taken on a much larger meaning for the nonprofit.

“The chicken coop is made out of reclaimed material, so it goes along with the theme of what we are trying to do with repurposing backyard spaces and redirecting lives,” Alma Backyard Farms co-founder Richard Garcia said.

The start-up enterprise is focusing on providing opportunities to recent parolees, mostly women, once they leave prison as well as growing enough food to sell to area restaurants.

Garcia came in contact with Cal Poly Pomona through landscape architecture Lecturer James Becerra, who suggested that the nonprofit’s vegetable boxes could be seen as unique to restaurants if they

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include more variety. The use of a chicken coop, it was suggested, would allow for eggs to be included in a box sold to restaurants. Alma Backyard Farms could then expand its efforts and provide more food as well as offer more opportunities to help those convicted of crimes be caretakers of the grounds during their probation.

Wilcox created a syllabus that challenged students to develop urban chicken coop prototypes. Students were also asked to create design and construction plans as well as tackle questions such as how the chicken coop is a reflection of much larger ideas about production and personal values.

“Students came away with a little bit deeper knowledge about what a chicken coop might be and what it can facilitate for people and families, especially in this situation—families who are trying to reconnect around ideas of food and growing and self-sustenance,” Wilcox said.

Despite its smallish stature at 3 feet by 6 feet, the coop has a sharp design that would allow it to fit comfortably in almost any backyard. It includes an enclosed, raised nesting spot and plenty of open air areas in which chickens can move around.

The coop was eventually moved to Garcia’s backyard farm.

“Why we designed this thing well was so people could see value in the structure, the object nature of it, as much as the egg production,” Wilcox says.

The coop will definitely improve the assortment of food provided by Alma Backyard Farms but also help the nonprofit address a larger goal, Garcia says.

“Part of what is strengthening our conviction to do this is more or less so folks have an awareness of the issues that the evergrowing prison population presents to our nation as well as to our state and locally,” he says. “The fact of the matter is that besides those who have a life without parole sentence, everyone is going to get out, and we need to find ways to help them.”

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ALMA BACKYARD FARMS: http://almabackyardfarms.com.

DESIGNING WAYS TO HELP HOMELESS Landscape architecture studio looks to make Hollywood center more welcoming The primary service of the Center at Blessed Sacrament in Hollywood is providing space for the homeless to interact with others so they no longer feel isolated from the world.

therapy groups to give the homeless the opportunity to learn valuable skill sets to transform them to become independent, responsible and employed.

The center may soon be a lot more welcoming thanks to the efforts of students in landscape architecture Lecturer James Becerra’s 402L studio.

“In terms of what Cal Poly Pomona provided, they really did an amazing job of thinking about our program and our space and offering new and innovative ideas,” Downing said.

Spencer Downing, the center’s director of programs and operations, received Cal Poly Pomona’s assistance after concluding the center’s exterior needed to be enhanced to encourage the homeless to participate in outdoor classes such as acting, music and poetry that would improve their mental and physical well-being. Searching for help, Downing ran into numerous roadblocks until a former Cal Poly Pomona student suggested that he meet with Becerra. That eventual meeting led to Becerra assigning the 402L studio in the winter quarter to propose designs that would provide a welcoming home and a sense of community for the center’s homeless.

The studio’s guidelines stated that the designs had to have clear sight lines, easy to understand signage, adaptable spaces as well as follow Americans with Disabilities Act regulations. It also had to align with the goals of the center, which offer classes and

The designs aimed to take indoor classes and therapy groups outside and enable groups of up to 15 people to congregate and have discussions while also offering private areas for poetry writing and reflection.

“The newly designed Center at Blessed Sacrament will engage visitors to experience a welcoming, outdoor environment, embracing and enhancing the sense of community and support system found throughout the center,” 402Lstudent Paulina Forgette says.

The center’s Board of Directors expressed enthusiasm for designs that allowed C-shaped wheelchair ramps to also function as discussion areas, kennel areas for the homeless to keep their dogs, as well as the use of drought-resistant native plants to decorate space and create smaller areas for group discussions.

Downing said he wouldn’t be surprised if some of these ideas are implemented.

“James had done a great job of asking them to think about cost, asking them to think about what happens in a public space, asking them to think about different ways that public space can be used to support kind of programmatic goals that we have…so yeah, it was really impressive,” Downing says.

Students gave Downing a three-hour presentation on their ideas during the quarter and later shared their work in May with the center’s board.

“It was a really high-quality presentation and very much representative of the hardworking nature of students that we have at Cal Poly Pomona,” Becerra says.

The center is working to figure out how to get money from the City of Los Angeles to implement the designs as well as decide what options they would like to incorporate. The city has set aside $1.5 million for the center’s rehabilitation project, and most of the students offered projects that cost in the $20,000 range.

“It’s got a life of its own now well beyond the classroom,” Becerra says.

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SEARCHING FOR A NEW WAY Urban and Regional Planning studio works out of Boyle Heights to answer whether the neighborhood can accommodate a major university

There may not be a more unique and close-knit area in the Southland than Los Angeles’ Boyle Heights, but it’s one in which only one out of 20 residents has a four-year college degree.

A Department of Urban and Regional Planning graduate studio class was tasked in the spring to answer an inquiry by a Los Angeles County Metro Transportation Authority (Metro) official: Can Boyle Heights accommodate a university and bring this higher level of education to residents who don’t often seek it out?

“Kids who grow up in Boyle Heights usually do what their parents are doing,” student Domenica Megerdichian said of the about

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100,000 residents who live in the predominately Hispanic-American, working-class neighborhood.

“This could provide them with an opportunity that could really lift up the community.”

Located between downtown Los Angeles and East Los Angeles, Boyle Heights’ strong cultural pride is shown in mariachi bands performing on sidewalks, stores catering to immigrants and murals reminiscing over heritage and history. The students in the graduate capstone studio spent their time working far from Pomona in a converted trailer at East Cesar Chavez Avenue and Matthews Street in Boyle Heights. The space was provided by Metro,

which previously used the trailer to work on its Gold Line project.

that doesn’t really use the university,” Megerdichian said.

“We learned a lot more in Boyle Heights about the area than we would have at Cal Poly Pomona,” student Nareh Nazary said.

“It was better to be in Boyle Heights than looking from the outside and determining what needs to be.”

“That was our fear of prescribing to them that this is what it should look like and this is what it should be and this is what they should teach. We wanted it to be something that the community could use as well.”

neighborhood was not made, but the students’ report did detail their findings about the strategy that the community should follow if they want to further engage the topic.

“Yes, it is feasible, but there is a lot more work needed with the community as well

There were many benefits to having a four-year university in the neighborhood, the studio proposed, such as jobs, training and retail services. But the neighborhood’s residents have responded strongly against gentrification issues in recent years, so students made sure their findings recognized these valid concerns. The studio’s 15 students split up into groups to analyze the subject areas that would make up their report: community, sustainability, types of education, demographics and conclusions.

The students did not just research the neighborhood from inside the trailer but headed out into the neighborhood to get a better understanding of it. Their walks led to conversations with residents and community leaders about economics, education and social situations.

“It’s the capstone experience to let them use their education toward something and, as a strong polytechnic university, it asks for them to roll up their sleeves and be a planner,” says Rick Zimmer, the lecturer heading the studio.

Steven Brye, a project manager at Metro, who suggested the assignment, said he was pleased with how the studio came together.

One thing that the studio wanted to ensure was that any proposed university be a part of the neighborhood and not separate from it.

“I sat in on one or two of the classes and (Zimmer) really inspired the students to do a great thing but he didn’t ram it down their throats,” Brye says. “He gave them the freedom to do it themselves to take their chances. The way he was interacting with these students is the way an actual consulting firm would interact with his or her staff.”

“We don’t want them to become the next USC where they put in all this money in south L.A, and hiring and creating all of these jobs for everyone but the community

The students shared their findings at a community workshop in Boyle Heights in June. A definitive recommendation about whether a university was feasible in the

as with stakeholders and major movers and shakers to answer whether the community wants a university and, if so, what type of university do they want and where do they want it,” Zimmer said.

Metro and city officials have received a copy of the report. Zimmer says it is not certain what they will do with it, but he has seen such a report have an impact in the past.

“It’s amazing the work that the students do that cities will take and start making into policy,” Zimmer says. “Not all of it but they’ll start amending their zoning code or their general plan or they‘ll start community meetings.”

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REBIRTH OF RICHARD NEUTRA’S HOME

Los Angeles home designed and resided in by modern architect gets a new look

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The Neutra VDL Studio and Residences faced an uncertain future in 2008. The acclaimed Los Angeles house designed by modern architect Richard Neutra was quickly deteriorating and its owner, the Cal Poly Pomona Foundation, was considering a sale but, this past July, on an almost perfect summer night, the house highlighted by its use of glass as well as reflecting pools and rooftop gardens opened its doors for an experimental installation and its transformation and a return to properly immortalizing Neutra was on full display.

The process didn’t happen overnight and consisted of a wealth of physical labor, an aggressive public relations campaign, and a rethinking of how the house was being used by Cal Poly Pomona and the College of Environmental Design, its owners and caretakers.

“It has been a great success story in collaboration between private companies, the university and committed individuals coming together to make all of this possible,” says Leo Marmol, managing principal of Marmol Radziner in Los Angeles.

Improvements have included restoring the roofs including penthouse reflecting pools, replacing walls and fences, installing new carpets and linoleum floors, as well as plenty of rewiring and painting.

“If you ask people, they say that the house has never looked as good as it does now since it was built,” says Sarah Lorenzen, associate professor and chair of the Department of Architecture at Cal Poly Pomona and resident director of the Neutra VDL Studio and Residences. “For years it was rundown, now, it is pretty happy looking.”

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The Neutra VDL Research House in Los Angeles, which was designed and resided in by modern architect Richard Neutra, has been restored in recent years. Sarah Lorenzen, associate professor and chair of the Department of Architecture at Cal Poly Pomona as well as the resident director of the Neutra VDL Research House (ON THE RIGHT), helped lead the efforts. Luis Hoyos, Dion Neutra, Leo Marmol, Joseph Dangaran, Sarah Lorenzen and Chris Shanley (FAR RIGHT PHOTO, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT) were part of a team that addressed the issues at the house. PHOTOS: Tom Zasadzinski and courtesy.

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Neutra was one of the most influential architects of the modern era. His works are well respected worldwide, especially the house in the 2300 block of Silver Lake Boulevard.

In 1932, Neutra built VDL Research House I, named after Dutch industrialist Cees H. Van der Leeuw, who loaned Neutra money for the work on a lot of just 2,000-square-feet.

But Neutra made the most of the area in an effort to provide plenty of space as well as privacy. The original two-story house, also called VDL I, incorporated a wealth of natural lighting as well as rooftop and balcony gardens. A rooftop deck provided spectacular views of the mountains and the Silver Lake reservoir.

For more than three decades, the house served as the office for Neutra’s architectural work, a home for his family, an apartment to house an apprentice, and a host to many notables in politics, music and the arts. A garden house was built in 1939 toward the back of the lot for Neutra’s three sons to play in.

But, in 1963, a fire destroyed most of VDL I. Despite Neutra’s initial reservations, he and his son, Dion, rebuilt it; the house was completed in 1966. The new Richard and Dion VDL Research House II, also called VDL II, included entirely new construction except for the basement and floor joists. The new design referenced spaces in the original house — such as the living and dining room area — but there were other features that reflected trends in the Neutra office in the 1960s. Reflecting pools were also incorporated throughout the house — on the

roofs, second floor terrace, entryway and the central courtyard.

The uniqueness of the main house could be seen in its experimental nature before and after the fire, especially in its management of water. One of the experiments involved Neutra trying to make flat roofs functional. With no slope on the roof, the idea was that water would collect on the roof, function as a reflecting pool and eventually evaporate. Trouble would come in future years because the roofing systems installed when Neutra worked on the house were not sophisticated enough to manage that feat.

The conventional tar and gravel roof, which had minimal drainage, was not suited to retain water.

In 1969, Neutra served as a professor at Cal Poly Pomona during a joint appointment with the Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban and Regional Planning departments. He passed away in 1970. Neutra’s wife, Dione, donated the house in 1980 to the university’s College of Environmental Design. When Dione passed away in 1990, the house was deeded to the Cal Poly Pomona Foundation, which included a $100,000 endowment. The College of Environmental Design and the Department of Architecture were tasked with maintaining the house.

The wear of age and the impact of Neutra’s experimental style started to show as the years passed. Money had been invested to repair the roofs, but leaks were ever present.

“We should have been watching the store more carefully and making sure the house was being well tended to,” says Lauren Bricker, professor in the Department of Architecture.

In the summer of 2007, Lorenzen was appointed as resident director and planned to move into the garden house with her husband, David Hartwell. When they arrived, they found the garden house to be unlivable and VDL II needed immediate attention, Lorenzen says.

“The ceilings and carpets needed to be ripped out. Everything needed to be painted,” she says.

They also had no money to do the necessary work. The only revenue source was $5,000 a year from the original endowment that would pay for power, water and utilities. Not much room was available in the budget for restoration efforts. Nevertheless, Lorenzen and Hartwell spent the next two months, six days a week, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., working on the house. Linoleum flooring was installed. They painted. The water heater was replaced. Electrical work was completed.

Lorenzen and Hartwell moved into the garden house in October 2007, but just a few months afterward a rainstorm flooded the main house. Lorenzen and Hartwell were up the entire night trying to control the water. Soon thereafter, they would learn that the university had had enough and was considering selling the house,

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but, after a drawn out process, the university would eventually decide against it. Lorenzen and a community of supporters of the house started to look at how to raise money for rehabilitation efforts.

“This was an enormous marketing opportunity for the college and certainly for the Department of Architecture,” Lorenzen says. “It’s this incredible thing that makes us visible around the world. It is a great asset for the university.”

Despite its stature among architects, many had doubts that the house could ever receive the necessary fixes because raising funds would prove difficult. At a meeting in 2008 with university officials and the house’s supporters, Lorenzen stressed that the house had plenty of fundraising potential.

“I said, ‘I don’t think we have tried hard enough to figure out a way to raise funds ­—a real effort to raise funds, even if it’s just small amounts,’” Lorenzen says.

Lorenzen started by opening up VDL II on

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Saturdays for tours. On the first Saturday, hundreds of people showed up paying $10 apiece. Lorenzen and Bricker also created a docents course that involved students leading the tours and providing complex architectural concepts in an easy-tounderstand manner.

Lorenzen then started cold-calling members of the media locally and throughout the country to bring attention to the rough condition of the house and the need for money to handle repairs.

Articles would soon be published in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times as well as on Archinect.com, a popular architecture website.

Many people who admired Neutra’s work and understood the value of the house also helped out. Actress Kelly Lynch of “Road House” fame spread the word about the house’s dire state in Hollywood circles. Catherine Meyler of Meyler & Co., working pro-bono, set up photo shoots of celebrities at the house. Local groups held private fundraising events.

Raymond Neutra, one of Richard Neutra’s sons, and real estate developer Anthony Greenberg worked with acclaimed architectural photographer Julius Shulman to have the Getty reissue 35 prints of Shulman’s iconic photo showing Richard Neutra on the roof of VDL II soon after it was completed. Raymond Neutra also compiled a National Historic Landmark nomination form for the house.

Dion Neutra encouraged and supported the effort to rehab the house.

Lorenzen says the vast majority of the money raised went into rehabilitation efforts to stabilize the condition of the house so the public could see and appreciate it.

“You can’t escape the passion she shows for the resource,” Marmol says. “We got infected by that passion. It attracted us to find ways to help.”

The house, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, also received a $10,000 matching grant in 2010 from the

National Trust for Historic Preservation and a $50,000 grant from Friends of Heritage Preservation. Many businesses also dedicated time and services on a pro-bono basis.

But the pesky problem of the faulty roofs was ever present.

Marmol’s company has restored several buildings designed by Neutra, but he especially had an appreciation for the VDL House.

“I was always so sad in visiting the house that it was in such disrepair and there was so much damage created by the problems in the waterproofing system,” Marmol says.

Marmol was able to see the problems firsthand when there was rainfall. Lorenzen and her husband would put on ponchos and stay up all night protecting the house and minimizing damage. This included rolling out tarps on the roofs before the rain, installing sandbags, as well as clearing water systems, gutters and the downspouts.

They would do almost anything to make sure water didn’t enter the house, Marmol says.

“My heart went out to them as individuals but also for the house and that continuing deterioration,” he says. “We, as an office, decided that something had to be done to protect the historic resource.”

Marmol Radziner volunteered its architectural and research services, specifically to tackle Neutra VDL Research House’s water intrusion issues. The work was broken up into phases.

The first two phases were the most problematic: an upper roof that included a reflecting pool and a connecting roof between VDL II and the garden house. The office looked at the areas and developed a research and repair process that kept the historic integrity of the house and addressed the leakage. One lively discussion involving architecture Professors Bricker and Luis Hoyos, university officials, community supporters, Marmol, Lorenzen and Dion Neutra delved into authenticity concerns

about whether to add a minimal slope on the roof to help with water management. A slight slope was eventually implemented and a couple of areas were added where water could come off the roof. An effort was made to put these changes in areas where they would go unnoticed.

“We did decide to change the house to improve its performance,” Marmol says. “It’s really a process of managing change to have minimal visual impact and have the greatest success in preserving the character defining features of the resource.”

Future phases will include addressing water management on the entire site.

Preserving modern architecture is not easy and is different from preserving other periods of architecture, Bricker says.

“Our expectations of modern is that it has a kind of a timeless quality and it always stays very sort of shiny and always has this kind of new look and when the effects of time set in, we don’t love it the same way that we might with other types of architecture,” Bricker says.

Cal Poly Pomona’s pride in VDL II and recognition of it serving as the university’s connection to Los Angeles was evident on July 12 at the opening of “Competing Utopias,” an experimental installation, in which the house was filled with Cold War era artifacts from Eastern Bloc countries.

Students, alumni and faculty members raved about the improved condition of the house.

“It is a very significant property that has this incredible association and it is part of our historic tie to Los Angeles,” Bricker says. “I think our students grow up with a tremendous pride that this is Cal Poly’s property. It is very much a part of our identity.”

Why is the Neutra VDL Research House so significant?

Answer by Leo Marmol, managing principal of Marmol Radziner in Los Angeles: “Richard Neutra is recognized worldwide as an important proponent of modern design. The fact that the VDL Research House was conceived, designed and executed by a modern master architect has significance.

“That the house was his own personal home adds another dimension of importance. Major modern thinkers, musicians and cultural figures gathered there as guests. The home became a place of modern art, thought and experimentation.

“From an educational perspective, it is notable that Neutra made the home a research facility, and that the family gave the facility to an institution of learning.

“Today, the VDL Studio and Residences continues the Neutra tradition of education and cultural events. There are many historic resources that we don’t have access to because they are private.

This one is not. We have a public institution that is available to everyone right here in our own backyard of Los Angeles. Visitors are welcomed, supported and encouraged to find out more about the house and Richard Neutra, but also about modern architecture and history.”

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REVAMP THE CAMP

Architecture studio designs a new vision for California state parks

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ARCHITECTURE 503 STUDENTS Laida Aguirre Antonio Fernandez Matthew Azpilicueta Emily Williams Kevin Easterling Mona Kiannasr Bryan Charney Juwon Kim Janus Victoria David Swann Alexis Calvin-Epps Inna Teplyakova

Sitting around work desks this past spring at the Interim Design Center, graduate students in the Architecture 503L studio had to confront a sizeable assignment unlike any other at Cal Poly Pomona. The dozen students had been tasked with evolving the state park system.

Associate Professor Juintow Lin’s studio had to design a series of cabins that would help build interest in camping as part of the work by the California Parks Forward Commission, an independent, blue-ribbon commission charged with proposing new directions for the state parks system. The students would need to do so by balancing issues of culture, sustainability, mobility and construction. Commission members said at least one model would eventually be situated in a state park, but their hope was the students’ design work would become the new standard of what camping looks like in California.

“What we’re really trying to do is a remix of the architecture and culture of camping.

We want to appeal to a new crowd that hasn’t gone camping a lot before and doesn’t own a tent and own the gear,” graduate student Laida Aguirre said.

Three years ago, when the state government was reeling from a severe budget crisis, a proposal to save money by

closing 70 state parks generated a political firestorm from park supporters around the state. Although the parks stayed open, the threat to the nation’s largest state park system motivated some of the leading foundations in California to look for ways to reinvent the Department of Parks and Recreation.

To bring a fresh, independent perspective to the challenges of the state parks system, the foundations, under the umbrella of The Resources Legacy Fund, proposed to pool their funds to support a blue-ribbon panel to develop innovative ideas for the state parks. The Resources Legacy Fund includes support from the David and Lucile Packard, James Irvine and S.D. Bechtel Jr. foundations among others.

Commission co-chairman Lance Conn, a Bay Area businessman, said he wanted the panel to re-create the look of a traditional cabin to jumpstart interest among groups that aren’t typical campers.

College of Environmental Design Dean Michael Woo, who serves on the commission, was asked whether ENV faculty and students might be willing to take the lead in a project to develop innovative designs for cabins which would appeal to millennials, urban residents, and others who don’t regularly go camping in state parks.

Associate Professor Juintow Lin’s Architecture 503L studio class designed a forward-thinking cabin at the request of the Parks Forward Commission.

The Wedge cabin (left) designed by the students was built this summer by Cavco West Industries. The cabin was shown at the California State Fair in Sacramento and the L.A. County Fair.

The studio, including Bryan Charney and Emily Williams with Lin at the Interim Design Center (right), designed the cabin this past spring.

Photos: Paul Vu and Tom Zasadzinski.

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The Wedge cabin incorporates wood and glass for a more modern look, can fit one full-sized bed and a twin-sized bunk bed, and also has plenty of seating.

The cabin offers a 60-square-foot porch where occupants can get some shade on a sunny day. Photos: Paul Vu.

ABOVE:

“It is one small part of the work of the Parks Forward Commission but it is the one that is going to be very tangible,” Woo said.

Lin’s studio was given the assignment in early 2014, along with a series of conditions. The cabin designs aimed to be inventive, low-cost, eco-friendly alternatives to traditional lodging. The size of each unit needed to be small enough to be portable, and for cost reasons, electricity and water connections were to be excluded. Construction costs were to be kept to $20,000 per unit or less.

Although the students in the studio had minimal architectural design experience, they brought a diverse array of other backgrounds to the project. One had worked as a general contractor. One was a mathematician. One had worked as a chemist. Others had studied landscape architecture and engineering. The students had to confront a share of additional challenges in creating the designs. They did not have to account for the structure of a building in their previous graduate studies and had only one course in environmental controls. The students were also mostly employed 20-somethings who have jobs, families, children and a slate of other courses.

“It has been a big learning curve for them because they started with no background in architecture and this project is quite different than a normal student project in that it has a lot of stakeholders that we

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have been able to interact with, a real client, and it has issues that students don’t usually have until much later in their curriculum,” Lin said.

The first two weeks of the studio were spent researching the project, which included making a visit to Henry W. Coe State Park near Morgan Hill to investigate transportation. The students then spent the rest of the quarter designing and fine-tuning the cabins.

More than 10 distinctive cabin designs were created and the finalists were “The Wedge,” “Skyline,” “Revo Pod” and “C Pitch +.” The students presented the cabin designs to Parks Forward commissioners and state parks’ officials in June in Los Angeles. Several of the designs received overwhelmingly positive responses.

“It was nice to see all of the parks officials so excited about something new and different and exciting, and Juintow’s studio created that,” Parks Forward Executive Director Ken Wiseman said.

The Wedge was so well received it was selected to have a prototype built of it that would be shown in July at the California State Fair in Sacramento. The 156-squarefoot Wedge has a unique roof that sits at a 4:12 pitch. It incorporates wood and lots of glass for a more modern look and can fit one full-size bed and a bunk bed with two twin-size beds. The cabin also offers a 60-square-foot porch where occupants can

get some shade on a sunny day. Student Emily Williams came up with the original design for Wedge. Bryan Charney and Antonio Fernandez also worked on the Wedge but the entire studio participated in the process.

“We divided up tasks in general based on experiences that people had, so certain people who were interested in design helped on the design of cabin and so forth,” Williams said.

Cavco West Industries in Arizona built the Wedge prototype in July and it was driven to Sacramento, where it was positioned in a prime spot near the fair’s front gates. In a separate building, small, 3-D models of the studio’s other designs were displayed.

With its prime location at the fair and Wedge’s unique look, many fair-goers stopped and gazed at the cabin.

“It really connects with the next generation who find the design intriguing,” Wiseman said. “They find the idea of having that in a state park exciting.”

The Wedge prototype was also showcased in August and September at the L.A. County Fair as well as at the California RV Show in October. Attendees at both Pomona Fairplex events also reacted positively to the cabin prototype, according to survey results.

The cabins designed by the students could be in state parks by the end of 2015.

A NEW BREED OF CAMPING

THE WEDGE FOCUSED ON: RELOCATABILITY: This allows the cabin to move once it’s located in the parks system.

THE WEDGE has a unique roof that sits at a 4:12 pitch. It incorporates wood and lots of glass for a more modern look.

The 156-square-foot cabin also has a spacious porch as well as an inside area that can fit one full-size bed and a bunk bed consisting of two twin beds.

SKYLINE includes clerestory windows, lots of natural light, custom furniture and a wraparound porch. The 195-square-foot cabin includes a loft as well as areas for beds and storage.

REVO POD is spread over 150 square feet and is a retake of the classic lifeguard structure.

Lightweight and easy to transport, it can fit one to three people and provides elements of the traditional RV experience.

PREFABRICATED: The design was built on a chassis in a factory in four days and shipped on a truck to the state fair. It meets transportation dimensions.

BARE-BONES CONSTRUCTION: Design materials are no more than required (i.e. studs are exposed and the floor is painted plywood). The exterior has siding on both sides for fire protection. A hollow wall gets rid of the wall cavity, which often attracts rodents.

AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT: The unit is designed to be accessible. Beds, doors, ramps, benches and hooks are all compliant with ADA guidelines.

LOW MAINTENANCE: Concessionaire was involved in design process.

RESISTANT TO FIRE: Fire protection guidelines were followed so that the unit can be placed in a fire severity zone.

INDOOR-OUTDOOR CONNECTION: Studio avoided a dark cabin interior. The unit has lots of light and makes all efforts to bring the outdoor environment inside with windows and French doors.

FLEXIBILITY: Design has multiple variations for potential bed placement.

The roof slope can also adjust as needed for different environments. The possibility for variations in materials are endless.

C PITCH + consists of wood and steel options. It has a generous amount of interior floor space that allows for multiple beds and plenty of storage. The cabin also has wrap-around windows.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE STUDIO AND TO SEE ALL OF THE ORIGINAL DESIGNS, VISIT WWW.REVAMPTHECAMP.COM.

RUSTIC MODERN: The cabin is a modern take on the traditional cabin.

SUSTAINABILITY: Windows are provided to maximize natural ventilation. The patio is longer on one edge, which can block the unwanted afternoon sun. Materials are low maintenance. The factory-built scenario reduces waste. The cabin is sized to be as small as possible to allow for three beds, and provide ADA accessibility.

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EVENTS CALENDAR REGISTRATION INFORMATION WINTER PRIORITY REGISTRATION WINTER REGISTRATION

OCT 29 - 30 NOV 3 - NOV 21

ENV/CPP EVENTS FALL VOLUNTEER FAIR EVENT DATE: LOCATION:

OCT 21 10:30am-1:30pm, University Park

CYBER SECURITY FAIR EVENT DATE: LOCATION:

OCT 23 10am - 2pm, BSC - Ursa Major

NEUTRA MEDAL LECTURE BY MICHAEL ROTONDI EVENT DATE: LOCATION:

NOV 3 6 pm, University Theatre

DIA DE LOS MUERTOS FESTIVAL EVENT DATES: LOCATION:

NOV 6-7 4-10pm, Bronco Commons

MENTOR PROGRAM EVENT DATE: LOCATION:

NOV 6 11:30am-1pm, BSC - Ursa Minor

GPSA/APSA JOINT UNIVERSITY STUDENT CONFERENCE EVENT DATE: LOCATION:

NOV 8 Bldg. 7 Gallery

ALLAN B. JACOBS (AUTHOR OF GREAT STREETS) VISITS ENV 101 EVENT DATE: LOCATION:

NOV 21 10am, TBA

CLUB REGISTRATION WORKSHOP EVENT DATE: LOCATION:

DEC 2 8am-4pm, BSC - Ursa Major

EXHIBITION SCHEDULE FOR THE HUNTLEY GALLERY THE WOODWORK OF FRED ROSE

925,000 CAMPSITES

Poems, Folklore and Ghost Stories: Tales My Firewood Told Me EXHIBITION DATES: SEPT 15 – OCT 23 OPENING RECEPTION: SEPT 27 4-7pm ARTIST TALK: SEPT 27 4:45pm

The commodification of the American Experience by architect Martin Hogue EXHIBITION DATES: OCT 29 – NOV 20

EXHIBITION SCHEDULE FOR THE W. KEITH & JANET KELLOGG UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY INK & CLAY 40

THE GILSON COLLECTION: MIDCENTURY DESIGN

Jurors are Jeannie Denholm, Phyllis Green and Dave Lefner EXHIBITION DATES: SEPT 13 – OCT 23

EXHIBITION DATES: OPENING RECEPTION:

CAL POLY POMONA ART DEPARTMENT FACULTY SHOW EXHIBITION DATES: OPENING RECEPTION:

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DEC 6 – FEB 19 DEC 6 4-7pm