Hands-On Workshop Introduces Girls to Architecture

Professor Tim de Noble talks to a group of young girls during a tour of campus architecture.

Tim de Noble led 12 junior high students on a sketching tour of campus, part of last year's summer architecture camp.

In the field of architecture, it’s still a man’s world: currently women make up less than 25 percent of practicing U.S. architects. The Fay Jones School of Architecture at the University of Arkansas is working to change that dismal statistic by offering 17 eighth-grade girls a hands-on introduction to architectural design. Cosponsored by the department of architecture and the Springdale High School Engineering and Architecture Academy, the workshop will take place from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. June 15-19 in the second floor studio of Vol Walker Hall. This is the second year that the School of Architecture has offered the workshop.

“The sessions were intended to raise awareness of the profession among women and minorities while eliminating some of the misconceptions that have served as barriers to a more diverse professional pool,” said Tim de Noble, architecture department head.

“Many people's perceptions of architects are based on what they see on TV, which is nowhere near accurate in representing what goes on in a firm,” said Alison Turner, a visiting assistant professor of architecture who will lead the workshop. “This workshop will give young students, especially young women, a better idea of what an architect does and how architecture can impact people’s lives.” The workshop participants will have several role models; in addition to Turner, two architecture students, Bethany Miller and Alyssa Middleton, will assist with the workshop.
Informal discussions, model-building and tours of historic and modern architecture on campus are among the activities planned for the students, Turner said.