design village Archives

50 Years of Design Village: Students face the elements with ‘Nexus’ theme

by Dylan White May 19, 2025December 10, 2025

“What began in 1975 as a weekend experiment in structural ingenuity has evolved into a hallmark Learn-By-Doing tradition that challenges each new generation of students to conquer theory and application,” according to Cal Poly archival records. Celebrating its 50th anniversary, this year’s Design Village theme was “Nexus,” meaning “a link or series of links connecting […]

Student innovation takes center stage at Design Village’s 50th anniversary

by Bella Cox April 30, 2025April 29, 2025

Teams from Cal Poly and community colleges across California earned first-place honors in construction, innovation and theme categories at the 50th anniversary of Design Village, held Saturday afternoon in the Architecture Graveyard.

Student app brings Poly Canyon history to life, aids efforts to revive the canyon

by Madison White April 29, 2025April 28, 2025

Parker Jones created an app to document the history of Poly Canyon, which features 31 student-built structures from past competitions, and has helped the college’s fundraising efforts to revive the canyon and bring back the caretaker program.

Photos

Photo: Design Village returns to Architecture Graveyard

by Bailee Isackson May 2, 2024May 2, 2024

Design Village is an annual event in which competitors flood Cal Poly’s Architecture Graveyard to construct temporary structures to camp in for the weekend. This year’s event, with the theme of “Modular,” took place from April 26-27. In the only group of seven in their studio, architecture freshmen Sophia Gonzalez and Serena Cree said they chose […]