It was a beautiful Saturday morning in Atlanta with lots going on all over the city. The AIA Atlanta K-12 committee had spent months planning for the 8th Annual Youth Architecture Fair to be held at the High Museum of Art. The Committee and volunteers were expected to arrive early to prep the classrooms and receive orientation on the order of events planned for the day. I must say that Missy Bower (AIA) and Aaron Albrecht (K-12 Chair) were fantastic along with the other volunteers who helped make the day successful. My contribution was minimal this time around but it felt good being there.
The High Museum of Art has been the venue and key sponsor of this event for years. What better place would there be to hold such an event in a building designed by Richard Meier with his signature white metal panels and a new addition designed by Renzo Piano who gestures towards Meier’s original design. The High personnel were awesome as usual ironing out every detail in advance to ensure success. They continue to be an asset adding value and relevance to the programming offered by AIA Atlanta.
In planning the event, we typically try to choose a theme that marries well with architecture and urban planning. Themes have included art, animal habitats and the Atlanta Beltline to name a few. This year’s theme was “The Urban Jungle”. The fair is broken up into 2 programs, one for students up to 3rd grade and the other program is geared towards students from 4th thru 12th grade. I agreed to lead the program for the younger students and to READ which is one thing I LOVE to do.
The program for the younger students typically starts with storytime. This year, the book was The Three Little Pigs: an Architectural Tale by Steven Guarnaccia. The kids were attentive, fun and ready to chime in with “not by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin!” And so it went. The story begins with an intro of the three little pigs. Pig #1 gets a visit from the Big Bad Wolf who threatens to blow his house down. Unfortunately, this pig’s house was made of scraps, inspired by Frank Gehry’s personal residence. The Gehry residence was the Architect’s family home where he built an addition to accommodate his daughter but this house would also become his testing laboratory for material exploration. Needless to say, in the story, the house succumbed to the huffing and puffing of the Big Bad Wolf.
The Wolf chased Pig #1 to the house of Pig #2 which was modeled after Philip Johnson’s “Glass House”. Pig #2 also shared an uncanny resemblance to the Architect himself sporting stylish black rimmed glasses. After a visit and fierce huffing by the Wolf, this house also succumbs to the Wolf’s determination to have pig feet for dinner. Both Pig #1 and Pig #2 escaped to the home of Pig #3 whose house resembled “Falling Water” made of concrete and stone. Pig #3 also shared an uncanny resemblance to Frank Lloyd Wright the Architect. I won’t spoil the ending here but let’s just say, the spin on this tale offered wonderful opportunities to turn up the dial on my animation skills. Wonderful fun 🙂 In the end, I added slides to explain the 3 architects and their respective buildings that inspired the story. I thought this might add another level of depth to their understanding about architecture.
After storytime, students received program cards with projects and program information for students to digest quickly. The students spend roughly 2-3 hours developing their ideas and building their models. The volunteers dispersed themselves amongst the students and worked with roughly 3 students each. AIA Atlanta provided the bulk of the supplies and students were encouraged to bring their “Secret Weapons” which is a shoebox of goodies from home to use in their models. Students brought pasta, foil, toothpicks, ribbon cereal boxes, etc.
At the end of the build, we met the parents in the atrium where students placed their models on a large scale map (sheet vinyl donated by Armstrong Flooring painted by AIA Atlanta volunteers). The map has streets, trees and water features with a lovely set of train tracks running thru it. The siting of the projects is key to their presentation in most cases. Finally, the children present their projects to the rest of the group. This year I encouraged the mentors to prod their young architects on during the presentations since children can be so shy. Parents and loved ones stand in awe at the creativity of these young minds. It was a wonderful day!
Here are more pictures from the program for the younger students.
While this magic was going on, the older students were also hard at work. They received an awesome keynote speech entitled “The Urban Jungle” by Elizabeth Martin-Malikian, KSU Professor at the College of Architecture. Immediately following the presentation, the students split up into separate groups and commenced to working on their respective projects. They too received program cards and constructed architectural works inspired by “The Urban Jungle”. Here are a few pictures from their program.
Sponsors included the High Museum of Art, Beck Group, Armstrong Flooring and Collins Digital Imaging. On behalf of AIA Atlanta, we thank everyone who helped to make the event successful. Looking forward to next year!
If you are interested in implementing a “Youth Architecture Fair” in your fair city, please contact Missy Bower, Director of Membership and Development for AIA Atlanta, missy@aiaatl.org.
Shaun Martin Architect 