This door-stopper of a volume is a testament to the continually inventive and inquisitive spirit of the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), and is introduced in a poetic forward by Eric Owen Moss, director since 2002. In discussing why "we opened a gallery," Moss proclaims: "We intend to sustain the fragile idea, the tentative thought, the preliminary sensibility, the not-altogether clear hypothesis." The intense documentation of 35 exhibitions proves this true, in a highly visual and verbal display of work by SCI-Arc alums and faculty as well as by a roster of international visiting architects. Projects are delineated in chronological order, which gives a view of the evolution of the gallery program. Each exhibit is introduced with a brief statement followed by preparatory material, construction/fabrication photos (featuring laboring SCI-Arc students), and final installation, giving the reader the experience of being in on each phase, from the conceptual to the physical. In 2007, Moss started engaging the exhibitors in public discussions, transcripts of which are included for each exhibit from that point on. All the work exhibited is wonderfully expressive, often interactive, form-making that, as Moss states, guarantees "a mind-set of discovery."
