Architecture 101 for Kids and Teens

Please note:

I now have a newsy newsletter on all things architecture and design that comes out every other week on Fridays.

The content includes new projects completed around the world as well as what is on the boards in architects’ offices in different countries, what architectural students are doing and thinking about reflected in their projects and, as always, a vocabulary word for the day that architects use on a regular basis.

If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, you can go to my Substack website, check out my latest post and subscribe.

Spaceship Neptune

This is a time for young students to learn, explore, create and enjoy the process.

We offer a wide range of topics for students to choose from. Once a subject is chosen, we take them through the design process, showing them how architects work, how we draw when communicating to others and how best to show their ideas through drawings, models and the selection of building materials.

At the end of the class series, they will have designed their own project based on the topic they chose by drawing plans, elevations and possibly perspectives and creating a model and/or a materials board. All of this is done while learning more about their chosen subject whether it is Sustainable House, Airports or any other topic they want to explore.

We offer individual classes year-round and our list includes students in several countries including Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Barbados, Canada, Columbia, Pakistan, Bangkok, Puerto Rico, Malaysia, Timor, El Salvador, Germany, Spain, the Philippines, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Oman and the United States.

Please note: All classes are offered in Spanish and English.

Dora,

Just wanted to let you know Joe really enjoyed the 2 point perspective line drawing component of Tiny Houses class today. (I think that’s what he called it?) He was still drawing tonight before bed.

See you next week!

About our classes:

We offer individual classes via Zoom for students ages 8 to 16 years around the world.

Each workshop focuses on a specific topic and information is provided by way of images and discussion. Then, the information is synthesized and a solution to a specific design challenge is created by the student.

The classes are four one-hour sessions provided over a four week period Monday through Thursday and Saturdays with the exception of the Computer Drawing class which is comprised of six one hour meetings with a teacher.

The teaching we do is referred to as project-based learning and we believe the most effective way to teach young people. The student is provided with information and a challenge and using visual tools we teach, they develop a solution. The students have the opportunity to use what they have learned in their school classes in another form reinforcing the knowledge they have gained while developing their critical and creative thinking skills.

We bring into the learning experience math concepts, history, principles of sustainability and the subjects they are learning in school with complementary information. This helps to reinforce their new found knowledge with additional ideas and concepts.

The experience the student has is very similar to working in a studio environment, whether in a school of architecture or in a design firm.

The best part is that the students are having fun being creative and learning while they are processing new information.

Some of the areas of exploration that are covered during these class sessions are:

How we live: Adjacency of different building types, relationship of human activities to the organizations of towns and cities, circulation patterns and an increased awareness of our built environment.

Cultural values: What is important in different cultures and how it is expressed in built form.

History: How our building types have developed over the centuries and why.

Sustainability: What designers and architects consider when building sustainably.

Confidence in ideas: Sometimes we lose confidence in ourselves and our ideas. In these sessions, everyone’s ideas have merit and creativity is encouraged.

For additional information, please send an email to dora.taylor@arc101forkids.com.

Tianjin Binhai Library in China

You can view my Pinterest boards where I collect interesting projects and ideas.