Cypress College, Cypress, Orange County

Cypress College

Cypress College, a public community college in, not surprisingly, Cypress, opened in 1966. Across the 110 acre campus, nearly every single building bears the same heavily textured, vertical, boardformed striation associated with the Brutalist style. The original campus was designed by the Texas firm of Caudill Rowlett Scott (CRS). The firm had made its reputation in the 1950s for building schools with a “lean and clean” style. The style of subsequent additions to the college, most notably the new library that opened in 2006, is congruent with the original, though the use of concrete is de-emphasized in favor of glass. The lighting of the iconic campanile in the center of the campus has changed occasionally from it usual white to blue to commemorate World Autism Awareness Day, red and green for part of December and blue and gold during the commencement.

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Cypress, Orange County
Photographer: Larry Slonim

SoCal Landmarks teamed up with members of the Photographic Society of Orange County (PSOC) to document this landmark.