April 30, 2019
by Center for Architecture K-12
12 students in grades 3-5 developed their own dream house designs during the Center for Architecture’s eight-week-long After-School program. Image credit: Center for Architecture.
12 students in grades 3-5 developed their own dream house designs during the Center for Architecture’s eight-week-long After-School program. Image credit: Center for Architecture.
12 students in grades 3-5 developed their own dream house designs during the Center for Architecture’s eight-week-long After-School program. Image credit: Center for Architecture.
12 students in grades 3-5 developed their own dream house designs during the Center for Architecture’s eight-week-long After-School program. Image credit: Center for Architecture.
At the culmination of the program, students presented their final dream house models. Image credit: Center for Architecture.
At the culmination of the program, students presented their final dream house models. Image credit: Center for Architecture.
At the culmination of the program, students presented their final dream house models. Image credit: Center for Architecture.
At the culmination of the program, students presented their final dream house models. Image credit: Center for Architecture.
At the culmination of the program, students presented their final dream house models. Image credit: Center for Architecture.
At the culmination of the program, students presented their final dream house models. Image credit: Center for Architecture.
At the culmination of the program, students presented their final dream house models. Image credit: Center for Architecture.
At the culmination of the program, students presented their final dream house models. Image credit: Center for Architecture.

If you could build the house of your dreams, what would it look like?  This past spring, 12 students in grades 3-5 had an opportunity to develop their own designs during the Center for Architecture’s eight-week-long Dream House After-School program.

Led by Design Educator Nadya Kim with assistance from Youth Programs Manager Mary Lib Schmidt, students began by looking at sources of inspiration from all over the world and from different time periods, ranging from the Palace of Versailles to contemporary houses built out of shipping containers. Students then sketched blueprint drawings and created mood boards to sketch out their design ideas and determine elements including their house’s location, number of rooms, materials, furniture, color schemes, and more.

Students brought those ideas to life once they started building. Swimming pools, solar panel roofs, mosaic tiles, and indoor slides were some of the creative features that they added. At the culmination of the program, students presented their final models to each other, along with visiting parents and friends, and discussed their newly-learned ideas about architecture and design.

The Center for Architecture offers eight-week After-School Programs for 3rd – 8th graders in the fall and winter of each year. Spring is the season for our youth Vacation Programs, which run for three days during school breaks, and planning our weeklong Summer Programs, which are currently open for registration and going fast!