printStudy Abroad
Every year, SCI-Arc students are offered the opportunity to participate in one-semester traveling studios. As well as experiencing European architecture while studying at SCI-Arc's school in Vico Morcote in Switzerland, students have studied in India, Holland, Mexico, China, Japan, Egypt, and Turkey. In addition, the faculty frequently lead students on field trips to destinations that have included Marfa, Texas, California's Owens Valley, Detroit, Michigan, and a desert site in Utah.
As well as regular exchange programs with Seika University in Kyoto and the Universidad Ibero-Americana in Mexico City, SCI-Arc also offers exchange programs with the Aarhus School of Architecture in Denmark, Delft Technical University in the Netherlands, RMIT in Melbourne, SIT in Tokyo, the Stadelschule in Frankfurt, the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, the Ecole Speciale d'Architecture in Paris, and the Belazel Academy in Jerusalem.
SCI-Arc: Kyoto
Japan Studio, Seika University, Kyoto
The Japan study program introduces students to the urban and architectural
circumstances of the contemporary Japanese city. The four month program consists of
two parts. The first is a one-month travel segment, during which students are introduced
to traditional Japanese crafts including calligraphy, paper-making, sword-making and
flower arranging. It serves as a primer in the arts and crafts of traditional Japanese
design. Students spend the second part of the semester in residence at Seika University
in Kyoto, where they undertake a studio project based on an intervention in an urban site.
The studio is accompanied by a History course and a seminar on Professional Practice,
focused on the work of contemporary Japanese architects.
SCI-Arc: Vico
European Program: Vico Morcote, Switzerland
Program website
SCI-Arc's European program is taught in a restored villa overlooking Lake Lugano in the
medieval hill town of Vico Morcote in Ticino, the Italian-speaking canton of southern
Switzerland renowned for its modern and post-modern architecture. Started twenty-five
years ago, SCI-Arc:Vico offers a congenial setting for the intensive study of Architecture
under the daily guidance of teachers and architects from all over Europe as well as
from America. The program takes full advantage of its location in the center of Europe:
guided architectural tours to destinations including Berlin, Rotterdam, Vienna, Prague,
Barcelona, Paris, Urbino and Siena form an essential part of the curriculum, along with
guest lectures, panel discussions and films. SCI-Arc:Vico lecturers have included Dagmar
Richter, Andrew Zago, Lebbeus Woods, Lars Lerup, Matthias Sauerbruch, Andrew
Benjamin, Aaron Betsky, Luigi Snozzi, Suzanne Zottl, Ludovica Molo and Jachen Koenz.
SCI-Arc: Ibero
The Universidad Ibero-Americana in Mexico City (UIA) is one of the outstanding
universities in Mexico, and their participation in an exchange program with SCI-Arc
provides the opportunity for SCI-Arc students to study in Mexico and look closely at
problems or organization, architecture and planning in an economy adjacent to the US.
Conversely, it allows students from the Ibero Institute to study at SCI-Arc and examine the
urban condition of Los Angeles.
To participate in off-campus visits or field trips, students must complete and sign a Release and Waiver of Liability and Indemnity Agreement.