August 29, 2008 

UC Berkeley and California College of the Arts (CCA) architecture students have been invited to a special lecture by Renzo Piano at the California Academy of Sciences. This event will take place from 4–6 p.m. on Friday, September 26, the evening before the grand opening of the Academy. It is a special event for students, but seating is limited. Berkeley has been allotted 140 seats for our students. To be fair, we are having a lottery through the studio and ENV DES classes. The lottery will take place the week of September 8, and will work as follows: Students who would like to attend should submit their names and ID numbers, and instructors will pick names from a hat. We will provide the list of names to the California Academy of Sciences. Students will be admitted to the event only if their name and ID number is on the department’s list of attendees. IDs will be checked at the door.

Selection Process 

FOR GRADUATE STUDIOS: The following faculty are responsible for giving Marva de Marothy in the Architecture office the list of names and student ID numbers by September 12:

• ARCH 200A Lisa Iwamoto
• ARCH 201 Mark Anderson, Jean-Paul Bourdier, Nicholas de Monchaux, Mary Griffin, Ron Rael, and Peter Testa
• Lois Koch in the graduate office for those not in studio (M.Arch/MS/Ph.D.)
   

For each of the six ARCH 201s and ARCH 200A, those students who want to attend will put their name in the hat and select 9 people per class. That will be 9 students x 7 sections = 63 students, and then there will be 7 slots for MS/Ph.D. students and other students not in studio. Lois Koch in the graduate office will collect names and conduct the lottery for that group. A total of 70 graduate students will be selected to attend.

Each of the classes may also select one alternate name for a wait list, in case extra seats become available.

FOR UNDERGRADUATE CLASSES: The following are responsible for giving Marva de Marothy in the Architecture office the list of names and student ID numbers by September 12:

• ENV DES 1 Linda Jewell
• ENV DES 11A Tony Dubovsky
• ENV DES 11B Walter Hood
• ARCH 100A Rene Davids
• ARCH 100B Keith Plymale
• ARCH 101 Raveevarn Choksombatchai
• ARCH 101 Yehuda Kalay
  
  

For the undergraduates, we will use the same system for the seven classes: ENV DES 1, 11A/B 100A/B, and the two 101s. For ENV DES 1, 11A/B, and 100A/B, students wanting to attend will put names in a hat and select 12 students per class for a total of 60 undergraduates. For each of the 101 classes, students will put names in a hat and select 5 students for a total of 10 undergraduates. Each of the classes may also select one alternate name for a wait list, in case there are extra seats.

Each instructor will give Marva de Marothy the list of student names (with student ID numbers). The department will finalize the list and let students know if they are "on" the list by September 19, a week before the event.

Video Screening/Pod-Cast 

For the students who are unable to attend the lecture, Joe Gouig will videotape the event, and we will have a "screening" in Wurster Hall on Wednesday, October 8, at 7 p.m. (as part of the lecture series). CCA will do a pod-cast of the lecture which will also be available to our students.

Lecture Details

Below is the Academy's description of this lecture.

TITLE
Renzo Piano: The True Story of the Design of the New Academy

DESCRIPTION
Nine years ago, world-renowned architect Renzo Piano arrived in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park with a green felt-tip pen and a sketch pad. His task: To design a building that would house the California Academy of Sciences’ 20 million specimens, 38,000 live animals, 400 employees, and three major attractions — an aquarium, planetarium, and natural history museum — all under one roof. Inspired by the Academy’s surrounding topography and natural setting, Piano created a simple sketch­an undulating green line that would become the museum’s iconic roof. His goal was to metaphorically lift up a piece of the park and slide the museum in underneath.

That green line is now a blossoming reality. Topped with a 2.5-acre living roof and bursting with light and life, the new California Academy of Sciences is a masterpiece of sustainable architecture. It is on track to become the largest LEED-platinum-rated public building in the world. In this intimate lecture, architecture students from UC Berkeley and the California College of the Arts will join the Pritzker Prize-winner in the heart of his new museum. Piano will share his thoughts on the building’s conception and realization, and explain why “architecture is about building emotion and telling stories.”

DATE/TIME/LOCATION
Friday, September 26, 2008
4–6 p.m.

California Academy of Sciences
Golden Gate Park
55 Music Concourse Drive
San Francisco, CA 94118

• Arrive between 3:30 and 4 p.m. (no one will be admitted late)
• Enter by the front door. The lecture will be in the round in the piazza. There is NO access to the museum.
• Students must show ID to be admitted, and names have to be on the list to get in.
• The time frame is fixed, as there are numerous other events planned for the Academy opening.
• Students wanting to tour the building may return after the September 27 opening.