Category: Learning by Design

Spring was in the air as 18 3rd- through 5th-graders showed up at the Center for Architecture to design treehouses during our Studio@theCenter vacation program held earlier this month. Continue reading “Treehouses and Subway Stops”

The Center for Architecture has partnered for the past five years with a local group of home-school families to provide them with a location for hands-on, project-based learning while building a small community of learners. Thirty-two students were divided between 3rd- through 5th-grade students and the older 6th- through 8th-grade to focus on Greek and Roman architecture. Both groups explored the origins and history of classical buildings to create age-appropriate final projects. Continue reading “Home School Students Study Classical Greek and Roman Architecture and its Influence on Neoclassicism”

Vacation is a time to play and explore new ideas and places. Thirty-five students enrolled in the Center’s Studio@theCenter vacation programs did just that, investigating what it might be like to be an architect and create new living spaces for imaginary clients. Three different apartment design programs were offered for elementary (3rd – 5th grades), middle (6th – 8th grades) and high school students over their February school break. High school and middle school students tackled the contemporary challenge of designing a micro-unit apartment in New York City. They learned how to communicate their design ideas through architectural scale drawings and models. Middle school students created their designs in the Center’s computer lab using SketchUp, a free 3-D rendering program. Thanks to the ease of digital duplication, students were able to create apartment buildings based on their unit design, adding in communal spaces and amenities. Both groups looked at other architects’ micro-unit designs proposed for NYC, as well as the minimal dwelling unit currently on display in the “Prague Functionalism” exhibition at the Center. Continue reading “(Very) New Practices”

On 01.15.15, the Center for Architecture hosted staff and students from our partner school, the Urban Assembly School of Design and Construction (UASDC), for a semi-annual presentation by students in the school’s architecture program, led by CFA Design Educator Yves Roger. Roger has been teaching at the school through our Learning By Design:NY program for eight years, introducing students to the process of architectural design. Ninth-grade students begin exploring fundamentals of scale, structure, and shaping space through 2-D and 3-D design exercises, culminating in their designs for a cube house and a bridge. Tenth-graders delve deeper, working in teams to design a high school, a museum, and living space based on the complex geometries of the ancient Chinese tangram puzzle. Eleventh- and twelfth-graders who choose to continue with architecture move into advanced classes, working independently on studio projects, and developing their portfolios for college applications. Continue reading “Design Professionals Share Their Expertise with Aspiring High School Students at the Center”

As we approach the close of 2014, the Center for Architecture Foundation looks back at nearly 50 years of organizational history. The Foundation has gone through several transformations since its founding by AIANY in 1966 as a non-profit 501(c)3 organization to complement the Chapter’s professional mission. Its first programs were scholarships for students pursuing a degree in architecture. In 1998, the Foundation adopted the Learning By Design:NY committee, providing the support that enabled it to grow into the nationally-recognized K-12 education program it is today. With the opening of the Center for Architecture in 2003, we changed our name from the New York Foundation for Architecture to the Center for Architecture Foundation, to recognize the role of the Center in our next phase of development. Here, we have expanded our offerings to include design workshops for K-12 students, families, and adults curious to learn more about the city’s built environment and the process of design. Continue reading “Looking Back, Looking Forward”

The Center for Architecture Foundation (CFAF) hosted the annual Architecture and Design College Fair on 11.21.14.  The event serves to connect high school students with architecture and design schools, scholarships, and mentoring opportunities.  This year the fair featured 18 colleges and several other institutions. With more than 150 students and parents attending, the Center for Architecture’s street-level galleries were abuzz with the exchange of questions and answers as students collected brochures from colleges as close as Harlem’s CUNY and as far away as New Orleans’ Tulane University.

We want to thank all of the schools in attendance: Boston Architectural College; City College of New York – The Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture; College for Creative Studies; Cooper Union – The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture; Cornell AAP Architecture Art Planning; Drexel University; Fashion Institute of Technology; New York Institute of Technology; The New School; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Roger Williams University; Pratt Institute; Tulane University; University of Buffalo, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Representatives from these schools joined a panel to discuss applying to school, portfolio development, studio culture, and other topics, followed by questions from the audience. Continue reading “CFAF Hosts Architecture and Design College Fair”

The Center for Architecture Foundation’s K-12 educational programs Learning By Design:NY and StudentDay@theCenter reach more than 4,000 students each year, and have a devoted following of schools and teachers who have made these programs an integral part of their curriculum. The Deutsch Bank Americas Foundation has recognized these unique programs by selecting CFAF to participate in its current Arts & Enterprise grant program, which will provide $50,000 to help CFAF integrate the K-12 Common Core Learning Standards into our educational programs, and expand these programs to more low-income, underserved schools. CFAF is one of about 20 cultural organizations in New York City that were selected for this program based on “a strong vision of supporting underserved communities and a history of educational commitment through both intensive and broad-reaching programs alike.” The grant program includes training for staff and educators on Common Core integration, and a series of working sessions for educational leaders from the cohort to develop a set of best practices for arts and cultural organizations that can be disseminated to the field. Continue reading “Center for Architecture Foundation Awarded $50,000 Grant from Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation”

Juniors and seniors at the Urban Assembly School of Design and Construction (UASDC) presented their playground and garden design projects at a Clinton Housing and Development Company (CHDC) building on 10.16.14. Earlier this year, Ashleigh Eubanks from CHDC approached Yves Roger, AIA, an architect and Center for Architecture Foundation Design Educator who leads architecture classes at UASDC, to invite his students to develop garden designs for a vacant lot adjacent to the CHDC site on West 52nd Street. After visiting the site, students were given six weeks to understand and develop the design problem through drawing and model making. Continue reading “High School Students Plant the Seeds for Change in a Local Playground and Garden”

The Center for Architecture Foundation (CFAF) collaborated with openhousenewyork (OHNY) to present the 7th annual Family Festival as part of Archtober and OHNY’s annual exploration of NYC’s built environment. During this free, weekend-long event, more than 300 parents and kids came to the Center for Architecture to enjoy a variety of art and design activities presented by OHNY, CFAF, and several other participating organizations and individuals. The goal was to build awareness of and interest in the city’s built environment among New Yorkers of all ages, and to introduce them to the many cultural institutions that provide family programming on the topic year-round. Continue reading “Family Festival Brings Hundreds to the Center for Architecture”