[SCI-Arc in the '70s via SCI-Arc]
On Tuesday the Santa Monica City Council overturned landmark status for SCI-Arc's first home, paving the way for owners NMS Properties to pave it over. SCI-Arc itself has found out what NMS has planned: a five-story mixed-use project to cover three and a half acres (the SCI-Arc building is just a half acre). It will include 545 apartments, and "The ground floor would have about 75,000 square feet of creative space, including studios and pre- and post- production space, and about 5,000 square feet of neighborhood retail."
The Architect's Newspaper Blog asked SCI-Arc founder Ray Kappe about the council's decision and possible development, and he signed off on it all, telling them, "The building was good and it served its purpose, but I don’t think it should stand in the way of somebody’s development." And about the design changes the building has seen since SCI-Arc left it in 1992: "It had good character, but now it’s got dumb character." See for yourself above.
· Santa Monica Won't Be Preserving SCI-Arc Building Nobody Wants [Curbed LA]
· SCI-Arc's first home not quite a landmark [SCI-Arc News]
· So Long SCI-Arc [The Architect's Newspaper Blog]
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