Summer Camp for Future Architects

Prof. Tim de Noble leads architecture tour for young women, some of whom are sketching.

Tim de Noble led 12 junior high students on a sketching tour of campus, part of a week-long architecture camp created to interest young women in design.

Paper, foamboard, masking tape and thumbtacks were the tools used by 12 eighth grade girls to explore architectural design in a weeklong summer workshop offered by the School of Architecture in coordination with the Springdale High School Engineering and Architecture Academy. Tim de Noble, architecture department head, led the students through exercises that progressed from designing a series of spaces using one piece of paper to creating a sculpture park model. “In each case we had a mini review so that the students could understand how critiques advance knowledge in architectural education,” de Noble said. Vinson Carter, a visiting instructor of technology education in the College of Education and Health Professions, and two upper-level female architecture students also helped lead the workshop.

Lectures, films and tours of historic and modern architecture on campus supplemented studio time. The students especially enjoyed a tour of architect Yume Rudzinski’s firm, Studio 226, which gave them an up close look at a female architect in action. A construction site visit to the new ballpark for the women’s baseball team rounded out the week with an introduction to the nuts and bolts side of the profession.

“The sessions were intended to raise awareness of the profession among females and minorities while eliminating some of the misconceptions that have served as barriers to a more diverse professional pool,” de Noble said. “We hope to continue this program.”