by Lisa Mazzola, Director of Education
The Center for Architecture’s Education Department has completed our 26th year of Summer Programs! During seven weeks of programming, we offered 24 different classes and welcomed 359 students from 18 states, three countries, and one territory.
This summer, we were proud to offer $25,000 in need-based scholarships thanks to generous contributions to our Annual Education Fund and proceeds from our Guess-A-Sketch and Annual Golf Classic fundraisers. Additional support comes from public funds provided by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
Each program focused on a specific topic such as bridges, treehouses, and waterfront cities. Students began the week by learning about the topic through discussions, presentations, and design challenges. Throughout the week, students took trips and spoke to guest experts, eventually developing drawings, collages, and sketch models to think through their final designs. Students then created hand-built 3D models and presented them to friends and family at the end of each week.
The Center for Architecture would like to thank the many design professionals and guest speakers who opened their spaces to us and shared their work and design-thinking strategies with our budding designers, including
SOM, Gensler, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Liv-Connected, Arup, Daniel Ash from Nelson Treehouse, Ori, Sondra Gilman Study Center at the Whitney Museum of American Art, 53rd Street Library, Billion Oyster Project, and 6BC Botanical Garden.
A special thanks to our Design Educators and Summer Assistants who worked diligently to provide our students with fun and meaningful experiences, and to the Center for Architecture’s facilities and front desk staff who kept everything running smoothly. Additional photos are available on our Facebook page.