Benjamin J. Smith (candidate, Ph.D. in Architecture) was named the 2014-2015 Design of Theory Fellow at Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) to advance and advocate the necessity for theory and discourse within contemporary architectural design. There, he will continue work on his dissertation on SCI-Arc and Los Angeles architecture of the 1970s and 1980s. Through the fellowship's unique opportunities for research, teaching, and design Benjamin is encouraged to emerge as a public intellectual, leading speculative discussions in the practice of architecture connecting emerging ideas to the discipline both academically and at large, shaping contemporary architectural praxis and thought – its processes, products, formats and documents.