The "architecture graveyard" is alive and well

Poly Canyon, at Cal Poly, is an experimental architecture laboratory. And it's open to the public: www.caed.calpol...
Thanks to Jacob DeBoard for the suggestion
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[@TomScottGo]

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!

[@nimpsonkinkson1924]

Tom my beloved

[@finn7341]

tom still in 2022

[@GamIngDoge.]

4 days? wow.

[@lahavmorris9919]

Hello from the future

[@screwaccountnames]

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

[@6023barath]

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

[@sinfyl.]

He is 😊

[@TimCortesi]

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

[@LindsayDaly]

He's like an architectural Bob Ross.

[@fvux5393]

@@LindsayDaly Exactly what I thought!

[@CalPolyCAED]

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

[@dylanlollar6045]

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

[@MrJoegotbored]

His softness brought me in too.

[@99Plastics]

bob ross of architecture

[@marvin19966]

don't be mistaken, his bedroom performances are akin to war crimes with bodies layered on top of bodies, dripping from the pleasure of his nuke of love

[@sinfyl.]

He really is

[@LordDragox412]

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

[@philip4534]

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

[@AlfaGiuliaQV]

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

[@Burner.Account..]

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.

[@notoriousgoblin83]

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

[@petergerdes1094]

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.

[@Nelo390]

@@petergerdes1094 "Do you really just want to build the same generic structures day in day out without any challenge" Yes please.

[@ad89593]

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.

[@JohnHudert1]

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

[@chrisjenvizzuso9316]

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

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

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.

[@sara-ww8eq]

+++ this would make a really cool video

[@vulixirus]

@@chrisjenvizzuso9316 i agree with the sentiment, but building more homes won't solve homelessness, we already have a lot of empty homes

[@johnkeefer8760]

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

[@anthonycarrillo5076]

Going to school there right now! Ride high!

[@brianhecimovich4488]

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

[@jessecmason2352]

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

[@silviastarlight5]

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

[@WyvernYT]

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?

[@MrLevtastic]

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!

[@NoNameAtAll2]

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

[@spoon7053]

@@NoNameAtAll2 and make sure the one you want graffiti on says “no grafitti”

[@57thorns]

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

[@seanseoltoir]

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

[@TheMaxqb]

There's actually been a PR campaign to stop calling it the "architecture graveyard" and start calling it the "design village." There's even a yearly design village competition where groups of students build smaller, temporary structures to showcase (and sleep in them overnight).

[@silviastarlight5]

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

[@samisthegreatest6682]

thats really cool!

[@nikolahusek969]

that has to be a great memory

[@CalPolyCAED]

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

[@stephenwilliams163]

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

[@loj114]

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

[@VigorousGoat]

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

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

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

[@keeperMLT]

@@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 I would accept video from Tom walking on a high wire as a replacement for the jet pack.

[@ChrisBChips]

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.

[@bobfystro4935]

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.

[@minorii24]

same!

[@newskybox]

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

[@ICountFrom0]

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

[@Erin____]

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

[@CalPolyCAED]

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

[@OnceandFutureSoph]

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!

[@sinfyl.]

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! 😊

[@AlphaLeader42]

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.

[@CalPolyCAED]

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.

[@pwhnckexstflajizdryvombqug9042]

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

[@tantamounted]

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.

[@murdoph]

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

[@chrisray1567]

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

[@Trek001]

We need an ASMR video of Kevin

[@sketchitDotBiz]

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.

[@CalPolyCAED]

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.

[@dannysh4418]

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

[@OptimusPhillip]

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!

[@aaronmorris1513]

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.

[@cdouglas6]

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

[@sb308]

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.

[@CalPolyCAED]

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

[@ellak2950]

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

[@michaelblanchard4751]

That's fantastic! Best of Luck!

[@TryinaD]

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!

[@taitano12]

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.

[@itisnotmeMARCO]

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.

[@csanadhorvath]

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.

[@subiout]

@@csanadhorvath 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)

[@subiout]

@@csanadhorvath 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

[@taitano12]

@@csanadhorvath 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.

[@twojuiceman]

That architecture professor is wonderfully soft-spoken

[@Cytrillex]

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!

[@TinyLegs15243]

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

[@markgnorthcott]

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.

[@G1itcher]

I could listen to this professor talk all day

[@coredumperror]

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

[@skillinp1388]

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

[@coredumperror]

@@skillinp1388 Running out there and back would definitely be a good bit of exercise. IIRC it's not *super* close to campus.

[@MrMojo23100]

Fascinating designs, though what made me laugh was the "Don't STOP Daddy" on the stop sign at 3:13.

[@forgingluck]

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

[@SjoerdSoundz]

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..

[@forgingluck]

@@SjoerdSoundz 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.

[@SjoerdSoundz]

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

[@forgingluck]

@@SjoerdSoundz thanks fam!

[@kn0bhe4d]

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.

[@nadernad_]

Would be wack to live there

[@chaotickaro938]

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

[@CharmEng89]

same, esp that modular house with the missing rooms

[@jacobreed8593]

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

[@TheGrinningViking]

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.

[@nlabonte]

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).

[@charleslambert3368]

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.

[@paulhaynes8045]

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.

[@alessandroortiz]

@@paulhaynes8045 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.

[@Inspirator_AG112]

Unrelated, but Tom Scott should cross the dateline (west) by _this_ year's New Year's Eve to experience a 364-day year and a 367-day year. (Since he is a traveller.)

[@i_like_hike]

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.

[@anthonycarrillo5076]

Going to school there right now! Ride high!

[@Jdban]

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

[@brianhecimovich4488]

@@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

[@MikesTropicalTech]

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

[@i_like_hike]

@@MikesTropicalTech No wasn't me unfortunately. I was a GRC/Comp Sci guy. Graduated 2012.

[@KathySierraVideo]

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. ❤

[@jacobgetzler294]

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.

[@moosegoose3159]

Ironic as Virginia Tech is an actual graveyard.

[@rick-says-hello-world]

@@moosegoose3159 I bet you thought you were really clever coming up with that.

[@IxionGames]

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

[@TheZapan99]

"It's open to the public, if you're on campus everyone is welcome to explore the area... especially in the afternoon and on week-ends, there's quite a bit of foot traffic." He proudly declares, while ascending a clearly unsafe water-eroded path with zero maintenance work.

[@MikeC96]

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

[@tgheretford]

"Ruined by too many KZbinrs" - see also, Rufford Mill Ford, as to what happens when the authorities intervene.

[@moodswinggaming2972]

you have sent me down a whole new rabbit hole, thankyou. xD

[@strowbridgewatson4799]

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

[@NickRoman]

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

[@sferg9582]

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

[@moosemaimer]

@@sferg9582 supposedly superhydrophobic coatings help with that, but most of the ones I've seen don't hold up to the elements very long.

[@janslavik5284]

@@sferg9582 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.

[@agustinvenegas5238]

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

[@MadMorgie6318]

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

[@thewiseturtle]

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.

[@daedbeetle]

i think the art at 4:04 looks nice :)

[@davidmcgill1000]

Gonna confuse a lot of historians in 1000 years.

[@petergerdes1094]

Doubt it. I strongly suspect that historians/archaeologists in 1000 years will mostly dig up old hard drives and use fancy techniques to reconstruct the data (if it's not actually still preserved). Rather than digging up the buildings they'll dig up this Tom Scott video off and old KZbin HD.

[@bearcubdaycare]

@@petergerdes1094 Magnetic media won't last very long. Other forms may also degrade underground. And good luck finding something that'll read old media, even decades later, let alone centuries or millennia.

[@bearcubdaycare]

"The natives settled where there were springs and a creek. Numerous structures had religious significance, with various symbols drawn on multiple structures, tying them together. MK Ultra was a minor deity honored on structures throughout the area."

[@dielaughing73]

Not if the signage survives

[@cdscissor]

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.

[@shinyagumon7015]

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.

[@maccrazy7335]

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

[@jacobandersen9912]

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

[@jackielinde7568]

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.

[@WillyTheComposerOfficial]

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.

[@GabeMillerMusic]

Ayyyy SLO resident and Cal Poly grad here! Thanks for covering this Tom!

[@raydunakin]

I absolutely hate graffiti vandals! So many cool things and places have been trashed that way.

[@dannysh4418]

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

[@librokubic6556]

Hi boo ❤

[@ZMW7]

Professor Dong is so soft spoken. He seems great.

[@samuelrj2350]

I used to hate the graffiti but last time I visited, it was my favorite part. It's fascinating. What do you decide to say or draw with your small contribution. So much love and pain and loneliness and appreciation. And more mushrooms than I remembered, haha.

[@sandervanderkammen9230]

Destroying art is never cool, tagging is a hateful crime.

[@ashardalondragnipurake]

depends wich you think is art

[@sandervanderkammen9230]

@@ashardalondragnipurake *Depends on which one is crime....* *If you paint on your own canvas? It's Art... If you paint over someone else's canvas? It's vandalism.*

[@sandervanderkammen9230]

@@ashardalondragnipurake *Destoying someone's art is a hateful crime... no matter how you try and "paint it"*

[@ashardalondragnipurake]

so you admit that washing off the art is a hateful crime

[@petef15]

In 10,000 years the dominant species roaming the earth is gonna dig this up and be very confused.

[@paulhaynes8045]

The cockroaches will just dismiss them as yet more human craziness.

[@aaronturner2615]

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.

[@ianmcconnell7108]

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

[@Artillect0]

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

[@Qsie]

Happy 2023, Tom! Best to you, and your friends and family 😄

[@jackagnell4781]

as a student, looking at the graffiti is half the fun of visiting. it is art in itself, and the building is a canvas. Kids write poems, draw, and other stuff. it makes the buildings feel like a true expression of the student body, not just an advertisement for the architecture college. If the school didn’t want graffiti, they should make the houses look like something you shouldnt graffiti. They surely didnt have that problem back when people lived in them.

[@shadow.banned]

I think I'd just build a massive skateboard pool with a self-filtration system for the rainwater.

[@ash36230]

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

[@TheStarBlack]

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

[@Michael_Ray]

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

[@corey6393]

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.

[@kenbrown2808]

and then LIVE in what they built.

[@paulhaynes8045]

@@kenbrown2808 very true! Applies to anyone designing anything - you have to use it afterwards.

[@uhuhuhuhuhuh3537]

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

[@EnabiSeira]

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

[@RobBulmahn]

Hey! Never thought I'd see my alma mater on here! I enjoyed hiking back up in Poly Canyon.

[@anthonycarrillo5076]

Ride high!

[@AnotherLuckyStar]

1:41 The giant enemy spider!

[@christianterrill3503]

I used to tag alot in my late teens. I met some of the best in the city. All the good artists that would tag had a code. You didn't tag people personal property like their fence or house, you didn't tag places not only because it was wrong but because your art would be sprayed over so quick. Those people tagging this art are assholes....

[@RangerMcFriendly]

“There was a bedroom here…” Me: Did they just float in the air when they slept??

[@michaelblanchard4751]

Haha, there were floors there originally with a weird alternating step staircase.

[@wesleybantugan5604]

Something to note, there are several Cal Poly’s in California. For those here: this is at Cal Poly SLO (San Luis Obispo)

[@anthonycarrillo5076]

The original, ride high!

[@michaeluplandcausa7878]

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.

[@justsomeawesomeperson6396]

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.

[@EngineerLewis]

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.

[@walshmabob2]

Your wardrobe is either one or thousands of red t shirts

[@ahreuwu]

he does indeed buy them in bulk, it's cheaper and they're easily replaceable. he took more than a decade to let go of his original grey hoodie, but he is definitely okay with replacing the 2 pound shirts!

[@courtney-ray]

He bought a bunch. He did a video about the red shirts and gray hoodies

[@theohtml]

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

[@tarobrob513]

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

[@Argo460]

Never expected to see Cal Poly show up on my feed specially with one of my old professors!

[@nucleargandhi2709]

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.

[@bubonicmouse2623]

In the Turks and Caicos we had some one in the 80s build experimental house out of asbestos they were trying to test how well they survive hurricanes. The funny thing we we weren't hit bye a bad hurricane till Ike it in the mid 2000s they survived Ike and Irma just fine.

[@johnmiller8884]

A couple of Architechure professors built a Strawbail home in a canyon North of San Luis known for intense fires to demonstrate fire resistant design. It was the only structure to survive the Tassajara Canyon fire.

[@JerryDLTN]

4:40 "Or if you know a few people...." 5.67M subscribers

[@raymonde4272]

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.

[@sandy-lo]

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!

[@ECWyne]

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

[@andrewspilberg5023]

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.

[@goodboi650]

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

[@EthicsGradient]

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

[@jongrey1916]

@@JoshuaCasey - 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.

[@ceomg]

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.

[@cynnicysm]

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

[@smolkafilip]

Well... this place will for sure confuse the hell out of future archaeologists.

[@y-yyy]

All that graffiti makes me so angry... Awful people.

[@FrenchesOP]

So happy Tom's pet ferret gets to be with him on his shirt at all times.

[@opusmaximum]

"This isn't an architecture graveyard, it's an art gallery."

[@SirSmithThe1st]

Never thought I would see my alma mater on a Tom Scott video. I have so many memories of walking around and (occasionally) climbing on some of these

[@miranda.cooper]

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

[@TryinaD]

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

[@invisibleman1734]

Anyone else notice the misspelled engraving "OBSIPO" (San Luis Obispo) at 0:20

[@anthonycarrillo5076]

I go here, I’ve never noticed that. I will now forever always point that out to friends

[@FengLengshun]

For a moment I thought Tom said "Pony Canyon" and my mind immediately flashes back to the days of "kono bangumi wa goran no suponsaa no teikyou de okurishimasu" in fansubs.

[@jave2274]

I like how the building at 0:38 says "MK ULTRA". Somebody did their homework

[@DaveF.]

Absolutely the work of architecture students - they're clever, they stay upright and no-one in the right mind would ever want to live in one. God help an wanna-be architect you builds a building with a roof, four walls and a door - they'd never get their degree.

[@Timeward76]

I mean that slightly curved lodge at the start fits the definition, its 4 walls, a door and roof, but it also looks fairly stylish and unique. Also that modular house is not assembled lmao

[@matthewma1008]

That professor is the sweetest person I've seen in a long time

[@PaleGhost69]

I'd love to see you visit an earthship (experimental sustainable home design similar to 0:40)

[@adzaaahhh]

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.

[@benjiman7259]

Oooo, I went to school here! The only thing I remember about the graveyard was all of the rapes that kept happening there. CalPoly was not a fun place Also racism Lots of hate crimes

[@frankupton5821]

Architects have all this lovely training and then build big hideous boxes of vanity.

[@waxmydrinski]

Honestly one of the best smoke spots for large groups in the area