Abstract
The kid architecture program was developed thirty years ago to introduce young people to the design of the built environment. The one-week camps structured for three different learning levels, grades 4th–6th, middle school and high school have been conducted in various locations internationally to include the Smithsonian, The National Building Museum Washington D.C., Canada and China. The camps have received national and regional awards for the broad breath of hands-on activities and implementation of technology. The ten objectives for kid architecture endeavor to develop an understanding of the following: • Why buildings look the way they do • Why building stand up • What architects and designers do? • Design drawing as a problem solving tool/method • The use of the design process as employed by architects • How a building is designed, constructed, used and reused • Construction materials used in buildings • How and why people “define” space 6 • The use of computer graphics, animation and Computer-aided design • Participation in the design of the built environment The philosophic foundations that kid architecture is built upon is the assumption that those who are exposed early to architectural design will have a different conceptual base from which to formulate more complex and differential ideas about the built environment. Architecture Camps’ personnel believe this cognitive skill is as basic to a young person in the modern world as knowing left from right or discriminating the letters “b” from “d.” Future advances in the conceptualization of buildings, cities, and personal living spaces will be made by people who are deeply aware of the built environment.