Each fall, members of the graduating class publicly present the work they have produced in their architectural education. They reflect on the meaning of that education, on larger implications for architectural education and architecture itself, and on their future. The Grand Critique is an all-school meeting, so students at all levels, and faculty from across the curriculum, engage in this dialog about architecture and the program.
The three Grand Critique winners are chosen by highest overall GPA, faculty choice, and from among the whole class by their peers. Guests representing Woodbury’s administration, Woodbury’s non-architecture faculty, and the professional community are invited to join in the celebration and discussion.
The Fall 2017 Grand Critique winners are:
GPA Award Winner :: Alexander Kim
Student Choice :: Michael Chin
Faculty Choice :: Dylan Bachar
Dean of the School of Architecture, Ingalill Wahlroos-Ritter, touched on the importance of the Grand Critique within the school. “The Grand Critique is a celebration unique to Woodbury School of Architecture. By selecting three students with exemplary work, the Grand Critique provides our community an opportunity to celebrate our students, our faculty and our curriculum, appreciate what we do well, and reflect on the passions that will motivate the next generation of architects. Our partner, the AIA SFV chapter, has provided us with the means to celebrate the accomplishments of even more of our deserving students with scholarships. I am hopeful indeed for the future of our profession.”
Eleven undergraduate and graduate students from the School of Architecture have been named recipients of scholarship awards totaling $7,000 as part of its 2017-18 Grand Critique, an annual School-wide event celebrating top architecture and interior architecture students.
Students Michael Chin, Alexander Kim and Dylan Bachar were named winners of $1,000 scholarships from AIA|SFV, as part of the annual Grand Critique. Michael Chin received the Rudolph De Chellis FAIA Scholarship Award, which recognizes the outstanding student architect as voted on by fellow Woodbury architecture students. Alexander Kim earned the George G. Terpatsi AIA Memorial Scholarship, which honors the student with the highest GPA, and Dylan Bachar was presented with the Joel Jaffe, AIA and Robin Jaffe, AIA Award, which honors a top student selected by faculty members from WSoA.
The 2018 Grand Critique presentation will be held at the Woodbury University Los Angeles campus in the Ahmanson Main Space. The scholarship awards were presented to the three fifth year Grand Critique winners, who were selected based on portfolios submitted. Short presentations by each of the three Grand Critique winners will be followed by a question and answer forum from the student and faculty audience.
The AIA San Fernando Valley Fund has gifted a $156,000 endowment to Woodbury School of Architecture. Proceeds from the endowment will go toward funding scholarships to Architecture and Interior Architecture students at Woodbury.
The scholarships are awarded annually to undergraduate and graduate students based on their architecture program portfolios. The awards are funded through an endowment created by the San Fernando Valley chapter of AIA (AIA|SFV), a professional association whose members are comprised of licensed architects and dedicated to furthering the architecture profession in local communities.
In the 2018 DesignIntelligence rankings, Woodbury’s Bachelor of Architecture program was rated 18th among the nation’s accredited undergraduate architecture programs. The undergraduate Interior Architecture program is now ranked 12th out of a pool of more than 190 schools nationwide.
Woodbury University’s School of Architecture is a network of hubs strategically sited within the Southern California megalopolis: Burbank/Los Angeles, San Diego and Hollywood. Together, they form a critical infrastructure for architectural investigations. The school’s undergraduate and graduate programs in architecture and interior architecture educate students as entrepreneurs, architect citizens, and cultural builders.