Archinect - News

MVRDV and Van Boven Architecten complete high school alma mater renovation in the Netherlands

2023-09-29T14:56:00-04:00

MVRDV has announced the completion of their Van Boven Architecten co-designed Gymnasium Beekvliet renovation project in the Netherlands.

The alma mater of both Winy Maas and Theobert van Boven was once the nation’s leading catholic seminary and was later used as an internment camp for political prisoners of the occupying Nazi regime during Worl War II before being modernized into a new grammar school in the early 1970s.

“I went to school at Beekvliet myself, as did one of my children, and my wife is also a teacher there. These connections strongly motivate me to design a unique and special building that does justice to the school’s rich history,” van Boven said in a preview last year.

Image: © Daria Scagliola/MVRDV

Located in the village of Sint-Michielsgestel near Eindhoven, the school now features a unifying new auditorium addition at the center of the school that’s meant to improve circulation. An existing classroom building and plaza area were also renovated. Ian Kirkpatrick, a C...

New York’s School Construction Authority is preparing for a school building boom

2023-08-25T17:41:00-04:00

The body in charge of K-12 planning and construction in New York City was recently profiled by the AIA New York as it prepares for a surge in student enrollment that’s expected over the next decade.

The New York School Construction Authority (or SCA) is a specialty city agency that employs 1,100 people and is tasked with the delivery and maintenance of school buildings in the New York City Public Schools arsenal, a charge which makes it directly responsible for the well-being, safety, and learning environments of more than 1.1 million students.

With a staff that currently includes 170 architects, Stephen Zacks for the AIANY writes the SCA has a unique talent when it comes to the delivery of high-quality structures within challenging construction schedules and have become national examples of the implementation of efficient project management at...

SCAPE, ARO, and Colloqate design Brooklyn high school campus with a hydroponics greenhouse and outdoor teaching spaces

2023-05-05T14:40:00-04:00

A team comprising SCAPE, Architecture Research Office (ARO), and Colloqate has unveiled a vision for a high school campus in Brooklyn with anti-racism, climate action, sustainable food systems, environmental justice, and experimental learning at the heart of its curriculum. The Launch School at Floyd Bennet Field will be constructed on a former airfield along the shores of Jamaica Bay, and will see a series of connective outdoor hallways knitting together buildings and landscapes.

Image credit: SCAPE

The design of the 7-acre campus embodies a ‘learning by doing’ approach featuring a refurbished and modernized central building, an urban farm and outdoor classroom, and a harvest and sensory garden. The campus will also hold a greenhouse with hydroponics, a central community hall, and spaces for outdoor art, teaching, performance, and exploration.

Image credit: SCAPE

“Launch at Floyd Bennett Field is an unprecedented opportunity to build a world-class educational ecosystem for communitie...

New Compton High School, featuring a Dr. Dre-sponsored performing arts center, officially breaks ground

2022-05-10T14:57:00-04:00

Construction has officially commenced on the new DLR Group-designed Compton High School in California. Designers, dignitaries, school district leaders, staff, students, and community members came together on May 7th to celebrate the groundbreaking.

The 126-year-old school has a rich history, well known for producing music and athletic prodigies. DLR Group’s design celebrates this legacy through a new campus with a dynamic learning environment that aims to elevate education for both students and educators. The design solution is centered around learning suites that foster project-based learning, student exploration, general instruction, and relationship building. In addition, the learning suites will allow for interdepartmental collaboration. They are designed as separate suites that can be linked together with moveable walls that open and close, allowing students and faculty to customize their spaces to support a variety of learning activities.

“This school represents yet another si...

Free 3D planning tool launched to help schools teach architecture

2021-09-30T16:17:00-04:00

Planner 5D, a digital design tool, has created a free educational version to help schools teach architecture and design. The tool, which allows users to generate 3D home designs, is offering its free educational licenses to “encourage students to foster their creativity in a digital realm while learning design principles.” The tool is available to teachers worldwide, who can download up to 100 free educational licenses for use by students.

The initiative has been launched to facilitate the teaching of STEM subjects to school kids, including focuses on art, architecture, engineering, and interior design. The app is centered on “problem based learning”, which invites students to develop computational skills by studying and solving home design challenges using a library of 6000 objects.

“With this free educational version for schools, we not only provide students across the globe with access to the platform but also help teachers to encourage them to foster their creativity while l...

Middle and high school students shine at the 2021 Chicago Architecture Biennial Student Ideas Competition

2021-06-17T13:25:00-04:00

Now in its fifth edition, the CAB Student Ideas Competition, hosted by the Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB), encourages middle and high school students to explore design in their immediate built environment. The competition invited students to discover how "design can play a role in creating shared spaces and improving communities."

For the Spring 2021 iteration, participants were inspired by the Biennial's theme, The Available City, led by Artistic Director David Brown. Each project had to answer the following question: "How can existing urban spaces be reimagined to better reflect the needs and interests of local residents?"

Students were also tasked to develop projects that addressed architecture and the built environment through "varying disciplines including design, the humanities, visual and performing arts, and STEM fields."

The contest was open and free to Chicagoland students in 7th through 12th grade. Winning projects and teams were recognized in a virtual ceremony. ...

Leading national architectural organizations collaborate to provide guides to help students and teachers explore careers in architecture

2021-04-16T10:25:00-04:00

Two new resource guides have been made available to help students and educators explore careers in architecture. “Your Guide to a Career in Architecture” is designed for high school students interested in joining the architectural community, while “Your Guide to Helping Students Consider a Career in Architecture” is intended for school counselors and educators to advise students through the process.

The guidelines are the result of a collaboration between the AIA, the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS), the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) and the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA). As well as providing additional information for K-12 students already interested in an architectural career, the reports strive to broaden the base of students who may not have considered a pathway in architecture, but whose imagi...

NOMA, HASTINGS, and U of Tennessee announce plans for new diversity scholarship

2020-06-26T18:42:00-04:00

The National Organization for Minority Architects (NOMA), Hastings Architecture, and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville have announced a new scholarship initiative aimed at bolstering the pipeline of students from diverse backgrounds entering architectural education.

The new Keystone Scholarship will "cover all academic costs" for an incoming student from Tennessee in the college’s School of Architecture or School of Interior Architecture each year of their education, while also providing financial support and guaranteeing a summer internship opportunity for the selected student. A statement announcing the launch of fundraising for the scholarship explains that "the full scholarship should enable the student to graduate with no academic debt."

Valarie Franklin, President of the Nashville Chapter of NOMA, explains: “One of NOMA’s missions is to encourage students into the profession and to continue in an active role in their education through licensure. This scholarship will not...

The Hip Hop Architecture Camp will be held virtually this year

2020-06-24T15:19:00-04:00

Highlighting the ongoing disruptions emanating from the COVID-19 pandemic, Hip Hop Architecture Camp has announced that it will hold its summer sessions online this year.

According to the Hip Hop Architecture Camp website, the camp is open to middle school and high school students, and will be held between August 1 and August 11, 2020. "There is no typical student for The Hip Hop Architecture Camp," the announcement states, adding, "Our students are aspiring architects, urban planners hip hop artists, musicians, computer game creators, interior designers, industrial designers, politicians and more!"

To help inaugurate this year's special summer series, Michael Ford, Hip Hop Architecture Camp founder, plans to hold an International Hip Hop Architecture Day celebration on August 1st that will be followed by a closing event on August 11th themed around the 47th Anniversary of Hip Hop.

During this celebration, the top 20 portfolios generated by the camp participants will be awarded s...

University of Texas at San Antonio announces high school partnership

2020-06-08T20:24:00-04:00

The University of Texas at San Antonio School of Architecture and the San Antonio Independent School District are joining forces to create a new construction, architecture, and design academy that will bring college-level architectural education to high school students.

The San Antonio Express-News reports that the new academy will be run as a magnet program for juniors and seniors, with roughly 35-40 students per cohort.

The goal of the program, according to the article, is to funnel young people into "high-wage, high-demand" careers; The program will take place at UoT's downtown San Antonio campus, where the School of Architecture is located.

The arrangement will allow students to complete core curriculum courses at UoT while earning up to 42 college credits and is part of several blended high school-college programs the local school district is exploring in order to push students into the design and construction industries.

Brooks + Scarpa completes bright yellow campus building for South Los Angeles high school

2018-05-31T16:47:00-04:00

Clad in a vivid yellow aluminum facade that perfectly complements L.A.'s typically sunny blue skies, Animo South Los Angeles High School's newest building signals a fresh start. After a massive fire in 2014 destroyed half of the campus, which has been around since the 1950s, locally based architecture firm Brooks + Scarpa took on the task of designing a new building for the school.

The public charter high school is known for its collaborative curriculum and strong connections to the surrounding community in South Central L.A. Located in a historically troubled area that was also a central spot in the 1964 Watts and 1992 Rodney King Riots, the new building has a visually open but secure design for the school's 630 students and faculty, the architects describe.

Photo: Tara Wujcik.

Brooks + Scarpa wanted to create a flexible teaching environment that supports parental involvement and puts student life at the center of the school. Completed this yea...

High School Students Interpret Neutra's VDL House with Art

2017-05-19T19:31:00-04:00

Tomorrow evening the Neutra VDL House will host an exhibition of work by high school students (age 16-18) from the Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts, curated by VAPA high school student Avery Wilcox. Each artwork offers new interpretations of the Neutra VDL House expressed in a variety of mediums - film, ceramic, painting and photography. More importantly these artistic expressions, given the age of the makers, will allow all of us to see this historic house with fresh eyes.

The exhibition will take place tomorrow, May 20, from 5-8pm.

“It's not the kids, it's their environment”: The tragic story of a young aspiring architect who died too soon

2016-06-16T15:51:00-04:00

Too often children from low-income neighborhoods are called broken...That needs to stop. “You keep telling kids that, and they actually begin to believe they are broken, that there is something wrong with them,” she said. “When in reality, it’s not the children that are broken, it’s the environment and area around them that is not working properly.”

Ananias Jolley was a high-school student in Baltimore who had a knack for building things with his hands, and he had dreams of becoming an architect. Living in a low-income neighborhood wrought with violence, his life was tragically cut short at age 17 when he was killed by a classmate. The story above is yet another grave reminder about the social and economic inequalities that persist in many U.S. cities (and in the world), as well as the dangers of stereotyping kids — who, more often than not, are POC — from low-income neighborhoods.

A girls-only summer camp for aspiring architects and engineers

2016-05-31T17:58:00-04:00

Girls Inc. was looking for ways to get their girls interested in fast-paced, high-paying jobs where women traditionally have been left out. Architecture and engineering certainly fit the bill. [...] the girls will travel to various construction sites and talk to professionals in the field. Girls Inc. also is looking to build a new, bigger facility, and the summer camp girls will play a large part in the initial design, even being given a chance to pitch their project

Architecture for All Ages: The top “youth-inspired” projects of 2014

2014-12-29T13:00:00-05:00

Curiosity is a driving force in architecture, design, and just about every creative field. Whether it was through collaborative projects in grade school, reading comic books, or sitting in a corner doodling away, it's not unusual for creative practitioners to say their interests were formed during their childhood and teenage years, if not somehow reaffirmed later in life.

Below is a loosely threaded list of end-of-the-year picks (in no particular order) of fun and educational projects that focus on youth participation as well as projects that echo childhood nostalgia and curiosity. Just like the kid who always asks "Why?", these fun uplifting projects are a reminder that inquisitiveness should never run dry and, regardless of age, learning never stops.

Never Too Young; 15 Librarian-Recommended Architecture Books for Young Children ↓

The winning narratives of the first Fairy Tales Architecture Competition ↓

"Constructing Holden Caulfield": Learning to build character through literary arc...

Autistic teens use architecture software to build job skills

2014-07-15T12:51:00-04:00

Sixteen-year-old Mason Dimock can focus intently on one subject, thinks visually and spatially, and is interested in technology — skills that have helped him land a summer job designing for a construction company. He and nine other Salt Lake City teens were selected for a pilot project by NeuroVersity, a company that aims to give students with autism or similar disorders the training they’ll need for careers. The students work with 3-D imaging software called SketchUp Make, developed by Google.

"Constructing Holden Caulfield": Learning to build character through literary architecture

2014-06-12T18:22:00-04:00

The writer and the architect aren't so different from each other when you consider each one as builders of an environment, and what better way to introduce that concept than to a class of high school students. After reading about Matteo Pericoli's "The Laboratory of Literary Architecture" course in The New York Times, English teacher George Mayo was inspired to teach it to his 10th grade class at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, MD.

Matteo Pericoli created and taught the workshop in the Scuola Holden creative writing school in Turin, Italy and then in the M.F.A. writing program at Columbia University's School of the Arts. Students picked a literary work they closely understood and then broke it down to its core elements, from which they based their architectural designs.

The goal was for students to avoid literal representations and instead design literary representations that symbolize "the essential ideas of the narrative structure in a spatial form," as described in P...

Simple math adds up to a $147 million school

2013-08-08T18:30:00-04:00

In Georgia, one school with an eye-popping price tag opened its doors today. $147 million buys North Atlanta High School a 600-seat theater, a food-court-style cafeteria with a smoothie bar and more than 50 acres of athletic fields. But here's another ... less impressive... number: North Atlanta has a graduation rate of only 60 percent. School leaders hope this investment will help turn things around. Is that too much to ask of a building?

Fallingwater accepting applications for residency programs

2012-02-23T16:14:00-05:00

Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural masterpiece, is accepting applications for summer 2012 onsite residency programs for students and educators. The one-week programs will include sessions for high school students at two different skill levels, and one program for K-12 teachers.

Brad Pitt’s foundation to help redevelop Bancroft School

2012-02-21T14:31:00-05:00

A bond forged in storm-ravaged New Orleans between actor Brad Pitt and a local architecture firm is bearing fruit in Kansas City — and may show the path forward to reusing dozens of empty schools. The long-closed Bancroft School at 4300 Tracy Ave. will be renovated into affordable apartments and a community center with the aid of the Make It Right Foundation founded by Pitt...

Starchitecture High

2011-07-20T12:19:35-04:00

Coop Himmelblau’s wildly ambitious L.A. high school opened to great acclaim and local controversy. Two years later, we ask: how is it actually working?

Aspiring architects get hands-on chance to learn

2011-06-28T19:26:45-04:00

Some local high school students tackled architect R. Buckminster Fuller’s famed geodesic dome during the University of Memphis’ Architecture Summer Camp. Architects from local firm brg3s lectured on structural design and helped the students build their newspaper dome.