Construction history of Samo

Walking around Samo, it is clear that the campus is a mix of various architectural designs created at many different times in history. In fact, since this location became Samo’s official campus in 1912, the campus has grown and evolved immensely to meet the needs of students and faculty, and to meet the modernization occurring throughout all of society. Interestingly enough, when the Samo campus was founded in 1912, only one building stood upon the hilltop on Pico Blvd. This building was what is currently the History Building. Then, in 1924, Samo underwent major construction to create space for more students, and the layout of the campus was changed. This construction project ultimately resulted in the addition of the current English Building.In 1933, the campus sustained quite a lot of damage due to the devastating Long Beach earthquake. For this reason, all of the campus that was left after the disaster was completely remodeled and modernized. With the remodel, many other small buildings were added to the campus, including the Language, Business, Administration and Music Buildings. The renovation was completed in 1938, with the great addition of Barnum Hall, the 1400-seat auditorium used very frequently to this day. As it happens, Samo’s campus used to be shared with Santa Monica College. In 1952, the college campus left the location adjacent to the high school, and Samo finally acquired the entire campus. Samo expanded to the size it is today, a full 33 acres, and built two entirely new buildings: the Science Building and the Technology Building. More recently, in the year 2015, part of the Technology Building was renovated and added onto. This building became the Innovation Building, which is now the most modern building on campus.Overall, each renovation the campus has undergone was purely for functionality and educational purposes. It was not to make the campus look cohesive or beautiful, or make it easier to get around, but solely to make learning easier for students at Samo.Samo’s campus is truly a patchwork of many different architectural styles; a blend between the old and the new. Funnily enough, this seems to fit perfectly with all that our school depicts. We are a patchwork of many different people, a blend between young and old, but together, we all serve a common purpose to learn and grow.