LOS ANGELES, CA.- Arts and tech entrepreneurs Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young (“Dr. Dre”) established the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy (Academy) in 2013, with the vision to launch a daring “educational startup” that offered a new form of education that focuses on the intersection of four essential disciplines identified by the Academy as New Literacies for the 21st century: art and design, engineering and computer science, business and venture management, and communication. The Academy’s innovative program has earned widespread academic and industry recognition, and in 2016, USC engaged Frederick Fisher and Partners (FF&P) to design a purpose-built, permanent home for the Academy, which will be formally dedicated on October 2, 2019.

The vision for the 40,000-square-foot Iovine and Young Hall was to act as a partner to the Academy’s uniquely integrative curriculum and drive student innovation and creativity through spaces that support collaborative endeavors and serendipitous interactions that serve to inspire new ideas. The design for Iovine and Young Hall grew out of a rigorous programming and concept design effort that included the Academy’s leadership, faculty, and students. The result is a state-of-the-art facility for instruction, design and fabrication, conversation, collaboration, and creation.

Just inside Iovine and Young Hall’s front door is an open community space that encompasses everything from lectures and formal presentations to social events and casual student meetings. The main feature of the space is the grand stair. More than a means for circulation or seating for events, its shape and configuration express the connection between Los Angeles—which is oriented on one axis—and USC, which is oriented on another. The stair sits directly over that intersection point between the two city grids. The rest of the Hall is a dynamic mix of experiential learning facilities; maker spaces ranging from traditional wood and metal shops to technology-rich printing, media, and electronics labs; small- and large-group meeting areas; student and alumni incubator spaces; and administration and faculty work areas. These are knit together by a series of “connection” and “collision” spaces. Visual transparency throughout the respective rooms encourages unexpected encounters between students, faculty and staff, and spontaneous cross-project, and even multi-generational collaboration.

As a campus gateway structure, Iovine and Young Hall’s red brick and glass exterior, designed through a collaboration between FF&P and Harley Ellis Deveraux (HED), blends with surrounding campus buildings and honors the USC campus’ collegiate gothic architectural tradition. FF&P conceived the building’s contrasting interior as a loft-like maker space that is flexible enough to accommodate the Academy’s ever-evolving pedagogy and programs. Building systems that, while tailored to the specialty shop equipment needed today, are adaptable for future equipment uses. Wide windows, movable furniture, wall-sized white boards, and informal work spaces are open to organic transformation.