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Center for Architecture Summer Programs Help Shape Next Generation of Architects

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July 16, 2025
by Lisa Mazzola, Director of Education
Center for Architecture summer program students visit the Skyscraper Museum. Photo: Center for Architecture.
Center for Architecture summer program students visit the Skyscraper Museum. Photo: Center for Architecture.
Center for Architecture summer program students visit the Drawing Center at the Whitney Museum of Art. Photo: Center for Architecture.
Center for Architecture summer program students visit the Drawing Center at the Whitney Museum of Art. Photo: Center for Architecture.
Center for Architecture summer program students explore the city's buildings to practice drawing and reimagining structures. Photo: Center for Architecture.
Center for Architecture summer program students explore the city's buildings to practice drawing and reimagining structures. Photo: Center for Architecture.
Student explores making supertall structures at the Center for Architecture. Photo: Center for Architecture.
Student explores making supertall structures at the Center for Architecture. Photo: Center for Architecture.
Student explores model-making at the Center for Architecture. Photo: Center for Architecture.
Student explores model-making at the Center for Architecture. Photo: Center for Architecture.
Center for Architecture summer program students explore the city's iconic structures, like the Washington Square Park Arch. Photo: Center for Architecture.
Center for Architecture summer program students explore the city's iconic structures, like the Washington Square Park Arch. Photo: Center for Architecture.
Student explores model-making at the Center for Architecture. Photo: Center for Architecture.
Student explores model-making at the Center for Architecture. Photo: Center for Architecture.

The Center for Architecture’s Summer Education Programs are in full swing! We’re thrilled to welcome over 300 K-12 students from across New York City and beyond to explore and learn about the built environment with us. In just the first week, teens in our two-week Architectural Design Studio, hosted at the Lutron showroom in the D&D Building, toured the 53rd Street Branch of the New York Public Library—designed by award-winning architects TEN Arquitectos—as part of their research to design a concept library. Meanwhile, students onsite at the Center for Architecture were busy drawing architecture around the city and designing skyscrapers and dream houses. 

Our summer programs give curious kids the chance to dive into architecture and explore their own creative ideas. Each one- or two-week session focuses on a different theme—like city planning, public art, or subway systems—and combines art and building activities, design challenges, guided investigations of real-world architecture, and site visits. Students begin by learning about the topic through discussion, presentations, and hands-on design prompts, then head into the city to meet guest experts and experience architectural spaces firsthand. We’re especially excited to bring students to sites such as the Billion Oyster Project on Governors Island, the 6BC Community Garden in the East Village, leading architecture firms like SOM, Gensler, and Liv-Connected, and museums throughout the city. 

Throughout the week, they develop sketches, collages, and models to work through their ideas, culminating in final projects—like treehouses, kinetic bridges, and homes of the future—which they proudly present to friends and family at the end of each session. 

This summer, we are 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. 

Programs are currently sold out, but be sure to visit our website for waitlist availability and updates on fall programming. Huge thanks to our Center for Architecture and AIA New York partners and dedicated program volunteers for making Summer 2025 such a success!  

Summer 2025 topics include: Architectural Design Studio, Skyscrapers, Dream Houses, Tiny Houses, Drawing Architecture, Store Design, Waterfront City, Luar Living, Treehouses, Store Design, Animal Architecture, Neighborhoods Dream House, Bridges, Subways, House of the Future.

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