The "hanging in midair" work is a tensegrity structure: the word's clear in the subtitles, but if you're just listening you might not catch it. Steve Mould has a great video on how those structures work!

Tom my beloved

tom still in 2022

4 days? wow.

Hello from the future

Steve Mould is the only reason I didn't have to resort to captions for that word!

I bet the structural engineers love the architects that have actually build their designs and seen how ridiculous a 50ft cantilevered concrete slab is

It is also often very cost driving and mechanically complicated to ensure the structural rigidity and load bearing capacities.

No, we don't. In general, we don't want the architect to ever know that it's possible, coz the fuckers will make us do it. That said, I'm not structural, I'm building services, and the number of air ducts I have to design to fit under floor/ceiling voids designed for cable trays is more than I want to remember, and then there's the contractors who thinks I'm the idiot who designed it that way.

​@Burner Account I'd hope that seeing the stupidity of their design would make them stop, but it will only make them worse.

I don't get all the people here complaining that architects or engineers might choose to have them build things that are possible but difficult. Do you really just want to build the same generic structures day in day out without any challenge? It might seem like that would make your life easier but it won't. If you have less tricky details to deal with your job will become more like that of an assembly line worker and you'll be pressured on time. Don't get me wrong, I certainly think it's worthwhile for architects to understand both what's possible and the costs of various kinds of construction. But not because it's good if they avoid challenging features but because that lets them avoid wasting the money on a challenge that doesn't add much to the building and spend it on the parts that really make the building stunning.

@Peter Gerdes "Do you really just want to build the same generic structures day in day out without any challenge" Yes please.

I love how soft spoken and passionate Kevin is about this project, can definitely tell he's a good professor

His softness brought me in too.

bob ross of architecture

He really is

In reality, he's just an engineer who enjoys watching architects suffer trying to bring their stupid designs to life and hurt themselves in countless ways. /s

The professor seems like such a lovely person! So calm and passionate about his work and his students' projects.

He is 😊

And quiet. Like... I kept having to turn up the volume because I couldn't hear him.

He's like an architectural Bob Ross.

@Lindsay Daly Exactly what I thought!

Faculty member Kevin Dong is exceptional! We're very fortunate to have him at our college.

Referring to it as an art gallery instead of a graveyard should become more commonplace, because I can't help thinking that the current popular term for it is part of why it feels more "ok" to spraypaint the structures. That being said, I also think some enterprising student could create something there which is *meant* to be spraypainted, so give those graffiti artists an outlet!

get 2 flat surfaces next to each other write "grafitty here" and "not here" respectively observe

@NoName and make sure the one you want graffiti on says “no grafitti”

Calling it a gallery require that there is information, caretakers etc.

Well, it's not like spraypainting graveyards is encouraged by society.

Here in Texas, tagging / graffiti is considered "criminal mischief" and if done at night, deadly force is authorized...

Tom, this happens to a degree at the University of Kansas in a program called Studio 804 - except the builds are real single-family homes that go on the market or stand-alone buildings/additions on campus. The students do all the design and construction labor except what has to be performed by licensed tradespeople, and even then they learn from those trades how to design in a practical manner. They also teach the students how to design green buildings and every build for years has been LEED certified.

How do we start an organization that can link all architecture programs together? I went to Unv of Miami and wondered why they didn’t use students to design things around campus

wow so they actually built things that have a purpose!?!? get hip cali build all ur homeless homes.

The students doing both the design and construction is really interesting to me. Doesn't seem like something that would be common in the job market, but would definitely be a valuable experience to many.

+++ this would make a really cool video

@Chrisjen Vizzuso i agree with the sentiment, but building more homes won't solve homelessness, we already have a lot of empty homes

Kevin seemed like such a lovely, soft-spoken guy. Really interesting how devoted the university is to letting students put their craft in practice.

The Cal Poly motto is “learn by doing”, so things like this are how they live up to those words.

We need an ASMR video of Kevin

That’s indeed sort of the point of most programs at Cal Poly. I majored in a program related to graphic design, and it was unlike any others I know of in that we got to work industrial printing presses and focus more on that aspect or the production of products and not just design.

We couldn't agree more! Dedicated in 1963 by CAED Dean George Hasslein, the Experimental Practices Laboratory at Poly Canyon is intended for Learn by Doing experimentation that seeks to abolish the distance between theory, design and construction.

I took a structures class with Kevin last spring, and he really is that soft spoken. It was a bit of a struggle at 8am trying to learn about solving indeterminate structures haha

Would have liked to have seen more of the structures. I'm sure Tom could have gotten some great shots from his jetpack.

Leaving some just in case people go out to visit the park probably

I think they showed almost all of them except for 3 or 4

Some would say drone footage would work fine, but no, it has to be a jetpack.

@Vigilant Cosmic Penguin I would accept video from Tom walking on a high wire as a replacement for the jet pack.

One of the ones they didn't show is a prehistoric-style house and is near impossible to film inside of. It echoes a lot and has probably the densest spraypaint in the canyon. I get why he didn't show that one.

I went to school there. That geodesic dome looking structure was amazing for having bonfires in. There was even a little stage built in there. Great memories

Going to school there right now! Ride high!

Graduated in June myself, and arch graveyard was just an awesome place to hike and hang out. Cool to see it in a Tom Scott video

Cal poly actually has a hammock club that goes out there and hangs their hammocks on the dome all the time

There are still concerts played there all the time! Though people climbing on it during concerts is making it unstable

Nice! I thought the concrete stair steps looked like audience seating. Do you know if the dome was originally thought of as a performance space or has it been re-purposed?

Many thanks to Tom and his team for this remarkable video. CAED Dean Christine Theodoropoulos sends her regards for a job well done.

Here's an idea for you. Alfred Yankovic studied architecture at Cal Poly in the late 70s. So there's a non-zero chance that one of these buildings was designed by Weird Al!

This is located where I live. Crazy to watch videos of all these unique and amazing places Tom takes us to, and then to see one of a place you have been is surreal.

same!

For real, I'm going to school here right now haha.

any chance you'll be inspired to go out with a bucket of white wash?

I’m a cal poly ARCH grad, it’s cool to see this video! We did Design Village back in the day and slept there overnight. This was always the spot for freshmen students in the dorms to go get drunk or have a smoke on the weekends, too. Maybe bring a few cans of spray paint. The structure with the street signs used to be a little (abandoned) house with kitchen countertops and everything! Looks like there’s more structures than I last saw, gotta get up there for a hike one of these days

We were just as excited to meet Tom and give him a tour of the Experimental Practices Laboratory at Poly Canyon!

This place looks really cool! I'm sure there must be so many architectural designs that never get put to scale and it's crazy to see things like a full-sized tensegrity structure!

It’s really great. It’s easy to get to if you’re near the area and I would encourage you to go if you have the chance! 😊

It is just last year we on the weekends architecture students built their own shelter to where they stayed up at architecture graveyard overnight. And students were free to just walk up there to take a gander.

We're glad you think so! We're very proud of our students and faculty who continue to demonstrate why Cal Poly's acclaimed College of Architecture & Environmental Design (CAED) is the only program in the nation with nine degrees in five closely related departments: Architectural Engineering, Architecture, City & Regional Planning, Construction Management, and Landscape Architecture. They uphold the value of positively influencing the forces that shape the planning, design and construction worlds.

Full sized tensegrity structure? they have built full size ones of them before, there is a bridge in Brisbane that is a tensegrity structure.

My father taught me, and a large number of Boy Scouts, how to build a floating flagpole, which is also a free standing tensegrity structure. I've seen one pole reach almost 21 feet high, while its lower end never touches the ground, all made of sticks lashed together and lifted up with twine.

Oh my god you covered poly canyon, I used to go here all the time when I was a kid! My parents we’re both students when I was born. I used play CARDS with the people who lived in the modular house

thats really cool!

that has to be a great memory

It's also an Architectural Engineering and Science museum. Every piece is a demonstration of design and engineering principles that Architects need to know. A demonstration of skill.

I think many of the projects over the years have had collaboration with students in the Architectural Engineering and Construction Management departments as well at Cal Poly.

what skill? these look like they were designed in a few hours. no clue how they got founding for some of these, 95% of them do not have a future real life purpose or function.

@Csanád Horváth they aren't built for those purposes. They are built as art pieces that the students can go up and explore/hang out. I can also assure you they weren't designed in an hour. There is so much that goes into each project. I have no idea why you have such a negative perspective on it. (I am currently a student at Cal Poly studying architecture)

@Csanád Horváth for instance, the geo-dome is used to house concerts and student everyday hang hammocks from it, many of the other projects are used for other activities and are just great places to hang with friends

@Csanád Horváth Well, you have various types of arches, structural joints, suspension and staying systems, girder and pylon designs and a number of things you learn about in Architectural Design and Engineering courses that are given real world demonstration in these pieces. Building a cable stay system on a table out of popsicle sticks and twine, or simulating a fabric draped concrete structure on a computer is one thing. Building an IRL version that demonstrates the techniques and application of theory is another. If I need you to design and build structure that will be difficult to achieve, and you can point to an art piece that demonstrates that particular look and say that you and your classmates did exactly what I need or want - or a close approximation at least - then I know you have the skills and knowledge to pull it off. If I'm learning a technique or style that is difficult to get across on paper, it's nice to be able to go and inspect a physical example.

That architecture professor is wonderfully soft-spoken

Hi Tom! Thanks for visiting my college's campus, I love hiking in and around arch graveyard. My friends and I refer to the dome at 1:06 as the "discussion dome" because we often end up having deep conversations late at night in the dome haha. I hope you enjoyed visiting San Luis!

I sincerely think there should be more of these. Get architecture students something akin to a hands-on experience, crowdsource a long-term experiment to see how these structures perform "in the wild," perhaps even provide a bit of inexpensive housing in exchange for the cost of upkeep for these (although I think this last one is a bit iffy).

I'm on the mecheng side and having to get parts for my final project milled by the machinists in the workshop really taught me some stuff about lead times and feasibility.

No architect should be allowed to practise until they have built something and actually lived in it for a year or two. Then they might be fit to design things for other people to live in.

@Paul Haynes as an architect, i think our importance to the final "livability" of a building is vastly overestimated by the public. Owners, contractors, subcontractors, the various trades, and the banks have more sway on what you see than the majority of architects. I've had to tell contractors to rip out waterproofing because they installed incorrectly, but god knows what gets done when the city and the architects don't see it before it gets covered up or if the owner/banks demand egregious cost-cutting.

Current Cal Poly architecture student here. I’ll be working on a new small structure for the canyon this year!

That's fantastic! Best of Luck!

All the best! I was think whether creating a structure vandals can actually decorate and maintain would be interesting in Poly Canyon. Has any group ever had that idea? It maintains itself!

It's got a "liminal space" vibe to it....can't really explain it, but it makes me melancholic, like I'm looking at old ruins where people once went about their daily lives.

Would be wack to live there

in person its absolutely that vibe, especially at night! there are a few structures that can be climbed on and seeing all of the structures all around you in the canyon basin is really surreal

same, esp that modular house with the missing rooms

Have visited Arch Graveyard many times, it definitely has that liminal feel, like you're looking at the ruins of some bizarre society

As a recent Arch grad I'm so jealous of those who were able to build there. That's idyllic.

Why be jealous??? If you got a briliant idea, get in touch with companies that will fund you. Get a piece of land and the materials..

@Notti that's a bold idea without active backing of a college..... I love it, I'll look into it! Already been looking into some cheap land out west I could easily get.

@K Cool! Hope you succeed. Maybe you can also put up a gofundme, good luck!

@Notti thanks fam!

I could listen to this professor talk all day

I went to school here and explored these projects when I was there! I love that you found it! Thanks Tom. What a memory to bring back.

Going to school there right now! Ride high!

It's interesting that they ripped out the walls for the one built over the creek and the other one people lived in. Makes sense though

@Jdban there’s a toilet and outlets in one of them too, but yah not surprising they removed all the amenities to keep people from living there. Now its really like a big playground

Hey Patrick, were you on the biodiesel committee with me and Margo?

@Mike's Tropical Tech No wasn't me unfortunately. I was a GRC/Comp Sci guy. Graduated 2012.

Oh wow 😭 memories of daily runs in the canyon when I was a student there. I’m thrilled to see it again here, Tom, since I now live 1,000 miles away. Also happy to see (after alllll the years passed since I was there) it’s still *alive*… not a graveyard, but a physical/structural, evolving “journal” of student ideas, effort, and passion. ❤

Yay! My alma mater! I remember visiting Poly Canyon when I was a freshman back in 1993. I still recognize some of the structures after almost 30 years.

Same era as you. It was fun to see the new structures. And the old ones still standing.

Graduated this past year and this was one of my fave places! Had a picnic with friends here one time, so it has good memories for me.

We're so glad to hear stories like these from fellow Cal Poly and CAED alumni!

“For the things we have to learn before doing them, we learn by doing them” is a fantastic quote.

There's a similar experimental architecture place in Vermont called Yestermorrow. It's a design-build school, and the students can stay in the buildings while attending the workshops. The school teaches responsible, sustainable, creative building, so there are buildings with living roofs, tree houses, and a really funky outhouse.

Such a proud alumni here..,I’ve spent so much time in that park hiking around, doing silk acrobatics from the dome and hammocking on some of the sturdier structures. Really good memories and so glad Tom did a video

Kevin is an amazing professor! I just had timber and masonry design with him this last quarter

I feel like Tom Scott has encouraged a very particular kind of anti-vandal that shows up with a bucket of whitewash and some cleaning or repair supplies.

Given the recent Canada Trip, I actually thought this was a trip to the Guild Park in Toronto based on the title. It’s an actual place where a rich guy collected architectural art and scattered it around his yard, then after he died it became a park.

This feels extremely different. The story being told with you chatting with someone is typically not your style, Tom. Usually, I'd expect you to just let someone like Kevin speak by themselves to explain this. It's not a bad change at all! It feels more human, somehow.

I attended Cal Poly and my roommate was an Architecture major! This is so great that Tom got to visit and show the world!

I worked on the Greenhouse for a bit in the mid - late '80s. The intention, at the time, was to use it to grow orchids for use on the student built Rose Parade float. I also remember visiting a professor who was living in the canyon at the time. Happy to see the canyon is still in use. However, it is sad to see the graffiti and other vandalism.

Kevin seems like a fantastic guy, who really loves seeing the creativity of architecture, in his own understated way.

Proud Alum of CalPoly! Hiked back to the architectural graveyard many times during my time there!

Love the idea, not only does it give upcoming architects the chance to see one of their projects realized, but it also gives them a more practical idea how their future job works.

It's not just an rt gallery./ It's also a testing lab of sorts. Since these structures are left in place and exposed to the elements, you can see how these ideas hold up. Everything decays and falls apart over time. This way, you can come back and look at how these structures are holding up and where likely failure points might be.

I really want to hear about each of the structures, who made them and what they envisioned for the structures!

Yes, the invention of canned spray paint changed our building scape forever.

That would be a great project for the near future.... making structure repel or shed graffiti and spray paint attacks.

@S FERG supposedly superhydrophobic coatings help with that, but most of the ones I've seen don't hold up to the elements very long.

@S FERG There are already materials resistant to spray paints, you just wash them with water a couple of times and the paint slides off. The main disadvantage is of course the price of these materials.

Graffiti is as old as cities, there's "bob was here" type stuff written by vikings in hagia sofia, dicks drawn over the walls of pompeii by its original inhabitants and, my personal favourite, a thousand year old writing of "wow this is high" on the ceiling of a cave they had to build scaffolding to reach

Though Pompeii and Herculaneum show that graffiti has been around almost forever and with much of the same contents.

This is the bloody coolest thing I've seen, I'd LOVE to have a walk around all this incredible art!

Seeing Tom visit SLO which I've lived in for all of my life is really surreal to say the least. The graffiti is honestly part of poly canyon, and I think that students want to make a mark on something that will last for a long time coming. I don't know if you saw the "tatooine house", but it is really defined by its graffiti. Hope you had a good time enjoying living the slo life!

Virginia Tech has a similar site for architects and engineers out on Inventive Lane. It isn't as isolated or public, but there are some cool stuff out there.

Ironic as Virginia Tech is an actual graveyard.

@Moose Goose I bet you thought you were really clever coming up with that.

I’m a carpenter, and most of the work i do luckily doesn’t involve an architect… but the few times i did, it was so annoying. Just the things you get told to do that either make no sense, or just aren’t possible. And then having to go back and re do everything because it only looked good on a drawing. I like the idea of architects actually making something real and learning about what works and what doesn’t.

Any chance for a longer exploratory video? I would love a long/uncut walk through that canyon!

search cal poly slo architecture graveyard, and im certain something will come up if not a few somethings.

It’s funny how Prof. Dong speaks so quietly outdoors, as if the buildings might fall over if he spoke too loudly. He must be a calming presence in real life.

They should partner with a horticultural college and get some nice gardens and landscaping around the structures. That would be amazing.

Cal Poly's horticulture students do some great work in a different area of the campus.

Should be funded and turned into a welcoming park where events are held and just fun stuff! We need more of this!

Wow, I love hearing Kevin speak. He's so soft-spoken yet concise and easy to understand - as someone with language and auditory processing issues I can't remember the last time I heard what someone was saying that clearly. I'd love to have him as my professor.

i had him last spring and he was just as soft spoken and patient. his class was brutal though haha

Cal Poly student here. It really is a lovely place. I can go out on my bike and in 10 minutes I can be in one of the buildings just chilling. I went out once with my flute and surprised some visitors with music.

Hey, cool!!! I went to CalPoly, in the Architectural Engineering major. The Poly Canyon is great fun, and I've been out there many times. At 4:23 you can see the structure that my roommate did.

I loved seeing these buildings when I visited Cal Poly, so many great designs!

What an amazing place! It reminds me of Inhotim (which would be a great place for a Tom Scott video if you ever came to Brazil!). I sure hope people enjoy this amazing art instalation area and keep it nice for everyone else. I also find amazing how Tom always manage to find the most cool, kind, fun people to hang out with. I want mr. Dong to be my teacher!

I went there! Arch graveyard was a great place for hikes in the daytime and bonfires (of questionable legality) at night

It's a really cool experience to wonder through it at night, walking with a flashing and coming across looming twisted structures in the dark is really surreal

I grew up in SLO, the town Cal Poly is in and I have so many memories hiking up there with my family as a kid! It’s so cool to see it getting more recognition

I have been to that Cal Poly quite a few times but never saw that part. It is really cool to see an idea become real and seeing the challenges that are involved to make it gives a new perspective on things too! We need more programs similar to this, even if you spend a semester helping on construction sites, to learn what works/does not!

This is a superb idea. Speaking as a former construction worker and nowadays (for the past 26 years) a civil engineer, this exercise gives potential architects a taste of practical challenges encountered in the real world; something which unfortunately, in my experience, many of them often appear to be detached from.

Wow, did not expect to see a Tom Scott video at my alma mater! I used to love going on runs through the architecture graveyard. Lots of really cool structures there. Very surreal seeing Tom do a video of a place I'm actually quite familiar with.

Oh wow, I attended Cal Poly, years ago, and I remember visiting this place! It had fewer structured back then, heh.

I was in ROTC at Cal Poly, we used to run out there every week, and sometimes we did drills out there on Thursdays too

@skillinp Running out there and back would definitely be a good bit of exercise. IIRC it's not *super* close to campus.

As a former cal poly student, I’ve visited this site a few times. I’m so happy to see it being shared with the world, especially by Tom Scott.

As an engineer I was very curious about the designs and how the weight of the structures (plus human loads) are passed down to the ground. (load paths). Pity we did not see all of them! But thanks for the video and discussion with Prof Kevin.

That guy is so chill, it's really pleasant hearing him

As a calpoly student it is so cool that you came to our campus!! I bike up here all the time!

I spent much of my life building homes and commercial structures. I feel it would do the world a great service if architects had to actually physically work to build a few things before they could get a license to draw buildings for others.

and then LIVE in what they built.

@Ken Brown very true! Applies to anyone designing anything - you have to use it afterwards.

I understand the sentiment, but the thing is that actual building materials are a lot more expensive than the chipboard and construction paper which architecture students typically use in modelmaking, so architecture programs might be hesitant to front the cost

Finally, a Tom Scott video on a place I've actually been to and hiked around! A very cool place, would recommend a visit.

This has to be one of my more favourite videos done recently. It's just the right amount of fascinating and informational. Really fantastic.

It feels like a monk decided to go into academia. Very calming presence from the professor.

It's been 30 years since I wondered that canyon. What a treat to see it again. I read that some European countries require 2-3 years of documented trade work to complete one's architectural licensing. Don't know if thats true, or where it may be true, but it seems like a really good idea.

"Even if you know people" Say the word Tom, I'm sure a group of people living in the area who are subbed to you would give a hand if they were given a bigger chance, or even donate on some level in order to help keep a cool little place like that looking as good as it can do for as long as it can.

That architecture professor just seems like the friendliest person. I love his chill, California vibe. Definitely the kind of person I would trust to be in charge of kindling creativity.

I really think you should go back to poly canyon and make a deep dive special, exploring more of this place. I would love to see more of it!

As a Cal Poly Architecture student myself, it's so awesome to see this exposure! I love this place and have been visiting for many years.

OMG KEVIN!! It's so cool to see my structures professor show up in a Tom Scott video!

Hi boo ❤

I love that you travel all over the world showing off interesting things, including stuff that is essentially just down the road to us folks who live in California. Thanks Tom!

just want to say that i respect you a lot, tom scott. your videos are always so relaxing, grounded in reality, and always super interesting, and i can learn something new! its a strange kind of comfort that i always absolutely love

Reminds me of Guild Park in Toronto. The original owner collected architecture from buildings that were being destroyed and placed them on his land. Now it's a park with odd pieces of buildings and sculptures scattered throughout. Perfect for wedding photos

It also serves to see how the materials and structures hold themselves through time and weather.

I love getting to see and learn about all sorts of interesting places from you!

When I would visit my brother while he was attending Cal Poly, I would go for runs and mtb rides through the canyon - I feel like I always saw something I hadn't seen before, or something from an entirely new angle that made it feel new. Such a cool place

It's strange, when I think of someone who would be teaching architecture students, someone like kevin dong comes to mind, even though I've never seen him before, just how he looks and acts just radiates a perfect energy for teaching people who can sometimes have eccentric ideas and it's lovely

Woah, you're actually at SLO! That's awesome! Arch graveyard was always fun to walk through.

These videos often leave you wanting so much more. Now I'm itching to know why they stopped having curators live in the buildings!

The answer will be "money". And possibly a side order of "health & safety".

@Joshua Casey - Having electricity and running water doesn't mean it meets modern health and safety codes needed to be granted an occupancy permit. By that standard I should be allowed to live in my fiend's work shop but I'd never get a legal occupancy permit because the septic system isn't rated for occupancy(it has to be able to process a certain amount of waste per occupant/bedroom), nor does it meet fire codes for occupancy, nor is the HVAC system acceptable to ensure basic air quality, nor is it sealed properly from gasses and the elements, nor numerous other things it fails to meet under current codes. This isn't some off-the-grid cabin in the woods built by DIY it's a university that has some strict standards and legal liabilities to deal with these days.

Given the state of some buildings we've thrown up in the past 20 years, I walk past an architecture graveyard every day in the city centre

I wouldn't call it a graveyard so much as an architectural and engineering laboratory where students and materials companies can see how things work in real life situations.

I honestly think getting solar lights out there on some of the structures would both help it feel less like a graveyard and deter tagging. I wouldn't be surprised if they could raise the funds to put them in, and maintain it from donations online.

Hey, more power to them. Folks learn a lot of stuff from senior projects. This seems really cool.

I love and appreciate the struggle Tom feels reguarding wanting to show and share these places to the world vs risking the world invading and destroying them.

Cal Poly architecture grad here! There wasn’t much construction activity up there when I was in school... except for the yearly design competition where we hauled temporary structures up the hill and slept in them overnight! Happy to see more new buildings.

Alright Tom! I loved sand skiing on one (water) ski (cut in half and waxed to the hilt) down the dunes of Morro Bay when I went to visit my friend Eva at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo (SLO). Being a fellow Cal Poly (Pomona, though) student getting a call at 2:30 a.m. to expect me there for breakfast was just normal - in 1976.

I'm possitive that Tom could very easily get together a very large group of people to meet with him in Poly Canyon and repaint/repair/assist with the upkeep on these structures. If he ever found the time to go there for a couple of days, that would be a fantastic way of using his fame for good!

Some of those things ended up in the real world. I'm sure many played on the geodesic dome as kids, and I think I have seen some of those swooping structures along side roads at rest areas and such. Very neat to see where they were "invented" and tested.

Being an architectural engineering student here, love it! They also call it the structural garden on campus, and it's truly an amazing place to be.

This is one of a few places where graffiti doesn't feel destructive to me. The objects there are shapes, they have no inherent colour or texture themselves, so the graffiti adds to it instead of destroying something.

The whole art gallery out in the open-vibe reminds me A LOT of Wanås in southern Sweden, which is an international art exhibiti in - you guessed it - the forest! It's been going since late 80s, so some of the artwork there is quite old but there are new additions every year! Some temporary, only for the season, but some are meant to be permanent.

Seeing this, if I were an architect about to do one of these I'd just make a structure that's meant to be spray painted. The form of the art being taken care of by me, and the color by everyone else. Bet there's an experiment like that somewhere in the world

Yup! Glad to find a kindred spirit. Make the vandals work for us lmao. I think it would be so interesting to see!

This seems like a great asset for the students, just to visit and get their minds in a creative groove

Got whiplash when i saw the thumbnail and title. Just graduated from there not too long ago. Honestly, i was always told that the structures there are the last remaining ones from back in like the 70's before they stopped making them permanent (they still have a project where students build temp structures to live in for a few days called Design Village). I didn't realize new ones could still be built. Best memory of the graveyard was actually getting to play in a concert through the Design Village event under the dome. Had sound and lights setup, was hella fun.

the idea that someone could, at one point, live on that premises just by caring for the art there is amazing.

I went to Cal Poly for 1 year before flunking out (apparently you have to study when you're in college? Who knew?! I didn't have to in high school... *sighs*). Anyway, I always enjoyed looking at the structures there. Also went bike riding through the area a number of times. It's a fun campus and very diverse in backgrounds with the school being VERY agriculture AND engineering focused. Plus it's the birthplace of Weird Al!