About Us > History

The San Diego Architectural Foundation was founded in 1980, the result of a gift from Ed & Barbara Malone. They gifted a residential lot in La Jolla, California, with the condition that a foundation be formed for the advancement of architecture in San Diego. Since then, the SDAF has realized the following accomplishments:

  • In 1990, the SDAF underwrote the San Diego Museum of Art's exhibition "In the Realm of Ideas." Dedicated to the legacy of Frank Lloyd Wright, this exhibit featured the full-scale reconstruction of a Wright "Usonian" house in Balboa Park.
  • In 2003, the Architectural Foundation was the springboard for the formulation of the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture (ANFA). A unique collaboration with the Salk Institute and other research organizations, the Academy is dedicated to investigating the relationship between brain functions and how we experience the built environment.
  • The SDAF published its first book in 2003, the award-winning San Diego Architecture. A 350 page, full color, 700 building guide to the architecture of the San Diego region, San Diego Architecture is now in its second printing, and a downtown edition was recently published.
  • The annual presentation of the Steven C. Ladislaus Memorial Scholarship has awarded scholarships to twenty-four recipients from nine different schools of architecture since its 1985 inception.
  • The SDAF is partner and fiscal agent to the Lumberman’s Competition, a design competition offering students the opportunity to design a project using wood products as the main building material.
  • Working in elementary school classrooms, SDAF volunteers in the Built Environment Education Program (BEEP) introduce young children to basic concepts of land planning, urban design and architecture, laying the groundwork for a better-informed and more aware future generation.
    The Foundation is home to the regional Council of Design Professionals. This discussion group meets monthly and works to educate the public – especially public officials – about design issues and choices in policies and projects