Rising beside USC Village, the Roski School of Art’s Extension Facility asserts itself as both landmark and gathering ground. The building’s concept is born from a play of stacked cubes, where selective voids create hollow frames. These frames choreograph views toward the zigzagging puzzle-like staircase at its core — a sculptural element that can be approached from multiple paths, each offering a distinct perspective.

At street level, a sweeping 30,000-square-foot plaza unfolds as an urban living room for the community. Water features and food trucks activate the ground plane, transforming it into a vibrant space where art, architecture, and everyday life intersect.

The architecture embraces raw honesty — exposed concrete rising boldly to 80 feet, paired with a luminous glass-sandwich floor crowning the top. Its scale renders neighboring buildings diminutive, reinforcing its role as an anchor of presence and energy.

Along McClintock Avenue, the staircase projects outward as a floating structure with a viewing deck — at once playful, transparent, and inviting. On Jefferson, the uppermost academic floor rests upon a concealed 102-foot steel truss, framing the staircase like a monumental window. The gesture reveals a glimpse of interior life, while preserving an air of mystery.Stacking and subtracting cubes to create frames, revealing the staircase as both structure and sculpture.

This is not only a building, but a living extension of the Roski ethos — a bold yet welcoming presence, both sculptural and social.