Category: Learning by Design

On a Saturday in mid-September, a group of architecture and history enthusiasts joined the Lead Design Educator of the Center for Architecture Foundation on a walk through portions of the South Street Seaport Historic District. The ramble introduced the group to ways of “reading the streetscape” through conversation and a guided look at the mercantile structures in this once vital waterfront. The district preserves early building practices including the handsome Schermerhorn Row, a warehouse that was essentially the World Trade Center of 1811. Constructed of robust load-bearing brick walls, closely spaced wooden floor joists, and relatively small windows, the structure was not terribly sophisticated considering what the rest of that century would bring regarding architectural technology. Built on trash and soil excavated from hills further upland, Peter Schermerhorn hastily built the Row on landfill as a speculative development. The crooked lintels over the windows are the result of his haste – he did not allow the landfill to settle properly. The elements of a storyline began to appear in the details that the group was discovering and reading together. Continue reading “Streetscapes in the Seaport”

As the dreams of summer drift away and the gravity felt in going back to school or work takes hold, we are reminded of the incredible work that took place here at the Center for Architecture in 15 workshops for K-12 children over nine summer weeks. About 277 students called the Center for Architecture home over the summer, as they spent hours drawing, sketching, taking photographs, and building elaborate models of their own designs. They visited places as diverse as backstage at BAM; the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum; the Knoll showroom; the Hudson Yards site and showroom; and the architectural offices of Grimshaw and Diller Scofidio + Renfro. We were glad to welcome Molly Hughes, production designer for the Harry Potter movies, and Roderick Romero, a “Treehouse Master,” to share their work with students at the Center. Many others, both young and old, shared their interest in architecture, design, and the city, and the students found a forum for sharing their own design ideas with each other, both in class and during their final presentations at the end of each week. Through all of the hard work, the students also had a lot of fun making things. Continue reading “Another Summer of Discovery at the Center, with Special Thanks…”

On 08.19.14, the Center for Architecture Foundation Young Patrons sailed the Hudson and the East Rivers on their first boat tour, highlighting new developments and projects that are dramatically changing Manhattan’s iconic skyline. This Classic Harbor Line tour was led by Arthur Platt, AIA, co-chair of the AIANY Architecture Tour Committee and partner at Fink & Platt Architects, who provided a dynamic and informative narrative about some of New York’s most historic landmarks as well as newer developments like Hudson Yards and the Brooklyn waterfront. Fifty young design professionals from a variety of creative fields embarked on The Manhattan, a luxurious 1920s-style modern yacht designed by Rick Scarano. To view more beautiful photos of the night, visit the Center for Architecture Foundation Young Patron’s Facebook Page. Our sincere thanks to Platt, our Young Patrons Committee members, and friends of the Foundation for making this event such a memorable one. Continue reading “CFAF Young Patrons Set Sail for a Fun Evening Tour of New York Harbor”

Elementary and middle school students had an opportunity to explore their neighborhoods’ architecture and their own design ideas, thanks to a new partnership between the Center for Architecture Foundation and the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD). This multi-part program combined training for DYCD after-school and summer program staff with hands-on programs for students at four program sites in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Twenty DYCD staff members participated in two days of professional development workshops at the Center in June, which introduced them to fundamentals of architectural design, and successful activities they could use with their students to explore their local architecture. The group learned new architectural vocabulary and design concepts, and went out into the Center’s neighborhood to see how they can serve as clues to understanding a building’s structure, design, age, and function. They tested out hands-on activities they would use with students, such as drawing floor plans and creating scale models, and exploring the structural design of skyscrapers and bridges by building structural models of each. Continue reading “What I Did Over Summer Vacation…”

The Center for Architecture Foundation joined forces with an impressive list of dignitaries to support the Bronx Children’s Museum’s 5th Annual Dream Big Day at Lehman College on 07.25.14. The event was the culmination of the museum’s summer arts enrichment program for low-income Bronx youth. The nearby High Bridge, New York City’s oldest standing bridge, was the theme of this year’s Dream Big event, which encourages kids to “dream, work hard, follow their passions, and become caretakers of their world.” CFAF Director Catherine Teegarden led a bridge-building workshop at the event where 1st^–through 3rd^–grade students learned about the structure of the High Bridge and built a 15-foot model, which they presented to event honorees Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, actor and author Sonia Manzano (“Maria” from Sesame Street, whose children’s book on the High Bridge will be published in the fall), and NYC Department of Design + Construction Commissioner Feniosky Peña-Mora. Commissioner Peña-Mora, a structural engineer, was delighted to discuss structural concepts of tension and compression with the workshop participants, and fielded questions prompted by the children’s model about how the larger steel arch can span a greater distance than the stone arches, rendered in the model with Chinese take-out containers. The renovation of the High Bridge is due to be completed later this year, and will provide pedestrians and bicyclists with a new quarter-mile of parkland, reconnecting the Highbridge neighborhoods of the Bronx and Manhattan. Continue reading “Center for Architecture Foundation Dreams Big in the Bronx with Hillary Clinton and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor”

The Center for Architecture Foundation is pleased to announce the winner of the Walter A. Hunt, Jr. Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded to a high school senior attending a New York City public or charter school who plans to pursue an undergraduate degree in architecture at an NAAB-accredited school within New York State. The $15,000 scholarship is awarded annually, in the amount of $7,500 per year for the first two years of study to subsidize the student’s college tuition and related costs. Continue reading “Center for Architecture Foundation Announces First Recipient of the Walter A. Hunt, Jr. Scholarship”

As another school year draws to a close, so, too, have our 2013-14 Learning by Design:NY  in-school residencies.  The start of summer is the perfect time to reflect on the past year and highlight some of the achievements of the Learning By Design:NY programs.
Continue reading “Looking Back on Another Successful Year for Learning by Design: NY”

The Center for Architecture Foundation is pleased to announce the winners of the 2014 CFA Design Scholarship, the Women’s Auxiliary Eleanor Allwork Scholarship, and the Douglas Haskell Award for Student Journals. This year’s field proved extremely competitive. Ultimately the scholarship committee selected six outstanding students.

The CFA Design Scholarship is given on the basis of merit to a student currently enrolled in architecture, engineering, or related design discipline at an accredited institution within New York State. For both awards, students are nominated by the dean or department chair of their schools. Magdalena Checo, who will enter her fifth year of the B. Arch program at City College in the fall, was selected based upon her outstanding portfolio submission demonstrating a range of work from free-hand sketching to model-making. For the first time since the scholarship was created in 2009, one recipient’s course of study lies outside of architecture, in the field of civil engineering. Kyle Sullivan, who recently completed his bachelor’s degree at Columbia University, was selected for his timely project on storm surge analysis in NYC. Continue reading “The Center for Architecture Foundation Announces 2014 Scholarship Recipients”