Archinect - News

The Met unveils designs for new children's learning center ahead of September opening

2023-06-14T18:49:00-04:00

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has set a date for the opening of the new 81st Street Studio children’s education space created by KOKO Architecture + Design.

This September 9th will see the daylong dedication festival for the new learning center, which takes over a renovated space in the museum’s Harold D. Uris Center for Education. The 3,500-square-foot design will offer free activities to children ages 3–11 and their caregivers, offering itself as an “interactive space that reimagines how the Museum can inspire exploration of its encyclopedic collection, amplify curiosity, and create new experiences for The Met’s youngest visitors.”

Museum director Max Hollein says: ”This is a project that was made possible by so many and with strong support to create something unique for our younger audiences.”

Rendering: Brick Visual. Image: KOKO Architecture + Design, courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

“Education is a critical — and very exciting — part of The Met’s mission, ...

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...

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...

Tools & Tiaras: empowering girls for a career in construction — and for life itself

2019-10-09T15:56:00-04:00

That’s what I’m trying to do with Tools & Tiaras: Have girls start envisioning that it’s normal for a woman to be an ironworker, to be my sister, to be working with me. Our stories are not told; no woman really knows: “Wow, she looks like me. She’s only four feet eleven and seven eighths and she’s doing plumbing? I can do it.” Society needs to change the way we portray what is women’s work and what tradespeople look like.

Judaline Cassidy, a New York-based plumber and the founder/director of the nonprofit Tools & Tiaras Inc, explains her struggles to break into the overwhelmingly male-dominated construction industry (only 3.4 percent of construction trades workers are women), the progress that has been made in recent years, and how she hopes to boost female participation in the architecture, construction, and engineering workforce of this young, next generation.

View this post on Instagram Let's hear for the girls!! New Jersey camp week was #dreamlit They came conquered and slayed all that was put in front of them. Welding Architectural Plumbing Sheet Metal Carpentry Electrical. Thanks @american_standard @kiewitcorp and Morris Community Center for helping us bring our Tools & Tiaras camp to New Jersey. #girlscamp #girlsintrades #theyneedtheirownshow #constructionsite #girlsbuildingempires #explorethetrades
A post shared by Tools & Tiaras Inc.®️ (@tools_n_tiaras) on Sep 4, 201...

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

"How does one teach urban planning to pre-schoolers?"

2016-02-09T12:55:00-05:00

Young children read books and watch videos about doctors, builders, chefs, mechanics, pilots, and businesspeople. But not urban planners. Why? [...] why is urban planning so under-celebrated, and why doesn’t it emerge as a field of study prior to the college level?

Pete Sullivan, a planner in Chapel Hill, NC, shares his experience explaining his job to his son's preschool class. Initially worried about communicating a profession as abstract and complex as planning to an audience of squirming five year-olds, Sullivan finds a simple engagement strategy – kids like stuff that moves, and Legos.

More on early education efforts for our future planners and architects: