A SIMPLY INGENIOUS IDEA LET THEM BUILD AND THEY WILL COME... by Tanja Bean No t e : T h is a rt icle is t h e fi r st i n a se r i e s h i gh l i gh ti n g the work of e m er g i n g p rof e s s ion a l pr o gr ams th at h ave b e e n awar d e d College of Fel l o w s gra n t f u n d in g.
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o w d o yo u e x p l a i n a r c hi t e c t ur e t o c hi l dre n w h ile k ee p i ng t he m e ng a g e d a nd e xc i te d ab o u t learni ng ? W hy , ha v e t he m bui l d someth i n g! Pic tu r e th i s. Ch ild r e n a nd t e e ns o f v a r i ous age s ar e tak i n g sel fies wi t h t he i r a r m s s t r e t c hed o ut i n effor ts to cap tu r e t he s m a l l s t r uc t ur e s t he y ’ ve bui l t fr om b r i gh t, AI A r e d , f ur ni t ur e g r a d e P V C . Othe r p ar tic i p an ts ar e g a t he r e d a r o und t a b l e s unde r an op e n air te n t. S o m e a r e d r a wi ng . S o me are con str u ctin g mo d e l s a r o und s c a l e f i g ur e s . The y are all car e fu l ly p lan n i ng wha t t he y wi l l b ui l d duri ng th eir ti me w i th th e f ul l s c a l e k i t s . V o l unt e e rs, c l ad with A I A t- sh i r ts, en c o ur a g e t he m t o d e s i g n o n pape r fir st, e x p l ain i n g h o w i t ’ s i m p o r t a nt t ha t t he y c apture th e im p o r tan t el em e nt s o f t he i r d e s i g n i n drawi ngs an d m o d el s so th ey a r e r e a d y t o b ui l d . L o o k i ng f ro m a d ist an ce, th in gs s e e m a b i t c ha o t i c b ut o ne by on e y o u n g p e o p l e a r e wo r k i ng t hr o ug h a care f ul l y cr afte d e x p e r ien ce .
gri dde d pape r f o r what wi l l be c o me th e participan ts’ c o nstruc ti o n drawi ngs. “ Yo u c an vary th e program base d o n the stude nts and the ti me th ey h ave,” say s Matthe w. “ At o ne e ve nt f o r hi gh sc ho ol stu den ts, w e hi d the smal l mo de l s and had the m bu ild th eir fu ll si z e struc ture s f ro m o nl y the c o nstruction draw in gs. T hat re al l y dro ve ho me the i mpo rtan ce of a set c o mmuni c ati ng e ve rythi ng ne e de d by th e bu ilder.” T he pro gram was de ve l o pe d o ve r a p eriod of abou t 6 mo nths o f pro to typi ng. “ We had a g reat idea, bu t
You ’ve j u st ex p er i e nc e d t he l a unc h o f A I A T ri angl e ’ s Sc aleU P Ar ch itectu r e W o r k s ho p a t S P A RKc o n Ope n Sour c e Ar ts f estiv a l i n Ra l e i g h, N C . In 2 0 1 5 , th e AI A Tri a ng l e ( a l o c a l c o m p o ne n t o f the Am er ican I n sti tu te o f A r c hi t e c t s s e r v i ng t he T ri angl e ar ea) ch al len ged it s Y o ung A r c hi t e c t s F o r um l e ade rs to fin d an e n gagi ng wa y t o t e a c h y o ung stude nts wh at a r ch i tects d o . M a t t he w S z y m a ns k i a nd S hawna H ammo n , tw o YA F C ha i r p e r s o ns , d e v e l o pe d a wor ksh o p th at tak e s p a r t i c i p a nt s t hr o ug h t h e de si gn an d e v e n tu al co n s t r uc t i o n o f a s m a l l s p a c e wi thi n th e sp an o f a sh o rt wo r k s ho p . “ S t ud e nt s s t art wi th con cep tu al mo d e li ng a nd d r a wi ng , t he n m o ve o n to con str u ctio n dr a wi ng s , a nd e v e nt ua l l y wo rk i n teams to b u i ld a s t r uc t ur e a t f ul l s c a l e . I n thi s way, th e w o r k sh o p tak e s p e o p l e t hr o ug h a p r o ce ss that r eflects th e d esign a nd c o ns t r uc t i o n o f t he bui l di ngs all a r o u n d th em, ” s a y s S ha wna H a m m o n. This in te r activ e p r o g r a m ha s b e e n b r a nde d AIA Tr ian gl e ScaleUP . I t i s a f l e x i b l e wo r k s ho p abo ut ar ch it ectu r e th at us e s t wo i d e nt i c a l k i t s o f PVC p ar ts at d i ffer e n t s c a l e s : o ne m i ni a t ur e a nd o ne f ul l siz e. Th e p ip es an d f i t t i ng s c a n b e us e d wi th many d ifferen t cu r r i cu l um s a nd a c t i v i t i e s f o r s tude nts at all l ev el s, as w e l l a s t e a m b ui l d i ng e x e r c i se s f o r p r ofes si o n als. Si m p l e i ns t r uc t i o n s he e t s have be e n d evelo p ed fo r facil i t a t o r s , i nc l ud i ng wo r k s hee ts wi th 14
NEWSLETTER
THE ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN JOURNAL OF THE AIA COLLEGE OF FELLOWS
ne e de d f undi ng to purc hase the parts. W e calcu lated o ur ne e ds at 500 l i ne ar f e e t o f f urni tu re grade PVC pi pe . Af te r a f e w te st runs wi th di f feren t classes, we de te rmi ne d the bri ght re d pi pe seemed to be a si gni f i c ant draw, ” sai d Matthe w. “ Wi th th at in min d, we re que ste d an Eme rgi ng Pro f e ssi o n als Gran t from the AIA C o l l e ge o f Fe l l o ws to he l p f un d th e in itial c o st o f the ki ts. T he c o ntri buti o n was critical to th e suc c e ss o f the pro gram. T he i ni ti al c o st of materials is si gni f i c ant, but o nc e yo u have the m the program costs ve ry l i ttl e to run. And we ’ ve ne ve r se c o n d gu essed th e re d pi pe . It stands o ut i n a c ro wd and wh en people call up to re que st the e ve nt f o r the i r sc hool th ey alw ay s re f e re nc e the re d pi pe s.” T he pro gram has l i te ral l y ‘ sc al e d up’ . “ScaleUP h as si nc e be c o me o ur maj o r o utre ac h e f f o rt,” said Emmie T yso n o f AIA T ri angl e ’ s Pre K-12 Outre a ch Task Force. “ T he pro gram te ac he s ki ds thro ugh a han ds-on project de si gne d to gi ve the m a de si gn pro blem tailored to the i r age and abi l i ty.” S he we nt o n to explain , “Th e ki ds i de ate and c re ate a ‘ ske tc h mo de l , ’ an d th en draw the de si gn o n o ur gri dde d pape r which offers u s a