SCI-Arc presents Close-up, a public exhibition and theoretical exploration of the impact of the so-called digital turn on the ethos and culture of architecture. The exhibition will propose that technological advancements have resulted in a transformation of the approach to tectonics. In the new digital paradigm, tectonics is no longer a product of architectural speculation, but is itself now a form of speculation expressed through its own resolution—or close up—in both abstract and material terms. The blurring of boundaries between the virtual and the real and the interconnectedness of materials and concepts achieved with new digital tools now conceal the details of construction and assembly that defined tectonics for centuries. Close-up will test this theory through the orientation of twelve to fifteen projects by some of the most innovative architects working in Los Angeles today.

Hernan Diaz Alonso is founder of the Los Angeles-based design practice Xefirotarch. Considered one of the most influential voices of his generation, he was appointed by the SCI-Arc Board of Trustees as director of the school, beginning September 2015. Previously, he has been the graduate programs chair at SCI-Arc. He has also taught at Columbia University, the University of Applied Arts in Austria, and Yale University. Alonso's architectural designs have been featured at the Venice Architecture Biennale, the London Architecture Biennale, and Archilab in Orleans, France; and displayed at MoMA, SFMoMA, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the MAK Centre, Vienna. His work has been widely published in magazines, periodicals, and multiple books, including the Excessive monograph of Xefirotarch and an upcoming monograph to be published by Thames and Hudson. Alonso completed his undergraduate degree at the Universidad Nacional de Rosario in Argentina and holds a master’s degree in advanced architectural design from Columbia University.

Founded in 1972, the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) educates architects and designers who will imagine and shape our built environment and the way we live and interact. Its mission is "re-imagining the edge: educating architects to engage, speculate, and innovate."