SUMMARY

This interview covers Thom Mayne’s path to architecture and issues with current academia. Mayne grew up with a single mother and had a relatively tough upbringing living in California. He rebelled in school from a young age and felt out of place. Despite this, he took interest in hobbies such as constructing go-karts and pursued these passions to the fullest extent. This translated to him winning a house design competition while he was still in high school which later forged his career in architecture. At USC, Mayne explains that he had little knowledge of popular architectural figures and at that time, LA’s architectural scene was relatively undisciplined and disconnected in comparison to New York. Despite this, Mayne still took inspiration from other figures in the arts such as Jimi Hendrix, Mick Jagger, and Tina Turner. Later, he founded SCI-Arc after being fired from teaching at Cal Poly Pomona. Despite limited support, Mayne grew interest from students in his institution from the experimental and collaborative culture. Mayne often highlights the rebelliousness of his generation and how he sees a lack of that in current academia. Furthermore, he discusses the lack of connection between education and practice.