News

Visit to Historical Sites Inspire Architectural Students

September 13, 2018

Students from the Olivet School of Engineering & Architecture (OSEA) embarked on a San Diego, CA trip to research the city's historical architectural sites.

The Summer Architecture Elective course included a field trip that led students through visit famous sites like the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Geisel Library, Salk Institute, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, La Jolla Contemporary Museum of Art, San Diego Mission de Alcalá, New Central Library, Balboa Park, and the Marston House.

One of the most memorable ways to do research on an architect is seeing their work in person. During the trip, OSEA students examined the works of architects such as William Pereira, Louis Kahn, Irving Gill, Hebbard Firm, and Rob Wellington Quigley.

The first site on the trip was the Geisel Library located in the UCSD campus. The famous library first opened in 1970 and was designed by architect William Pereira. Later in the 90’s, it was renovated and re-established as the Geisel Library.

Students also visited The Old Scripps Building designed by architect Irving Gill. Gill was a proponent of Modernist architecture and applied reinforced concrete construction methods into the building's structure. The building was built on a terrace 15 feet above the Pacific coast shore.

Another site was the 1813 church, San Diego de Alcalá. It was considered as one of the frst sites of California Missions and the birthplace of Christianity on the United State's west coast. The building contains characteristics from the Mother country of Spain as it was rebuilt in 1931 under architects J.E. Loveless and J. Marshall Miller. Today, the site serves as an active Catholic church and a tourist attraction for thousands of people each year.

"The most impressive part of the field trip was the visit to Balboa Park in San Diego," said Angela Wang, an architecture student enrolled in the course.

"I was able to see a variety of classical architectural styles and learned new things even though I visited the site earlier. I look forward to study classical design in depth and apply the same in my future projects," reflected Wang.

OSEA courses are encouraging students to examine existing architectural structures and learn from them, especially from prominent masters in the field.

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