Architecture Week
This week, I traded my laptop in for construction paper — and honestly, it might have been the most important design session all year.
At the invitation of DesignPhiladelphia, I joined Architecture Week to lead a career pathways presentation for fourth graders at Rhawnhurst Elementary. Spoiler: the students were more engaged than most adults in a boardroom.
Architecture Week exists for exactly this reason — to pull back the curtain on a profession that quite literally shapes the world around us, and to put that possibility in front of young people before anyone tells them it's out of reach. The truth is, there's no single road to becoming an architect. The paths are varied, mine was certainly nonlinear, and often gloriously unexpected. Beyond a childhood love of Lego, we explored how inspiration is everywhere — music, art, travel, and the simple act of observation are all doorways into architectural thinking and design.
Photo by Michael Spain - DesignPhiladelphia
The session wasn't just a lecture — it was a workshop. Students got hands-on with an empty building facade, filling it in with shapes, forms, and their own sense of composition. Because the best way to teach design thinking isn't to talk about it. It's to hand someone some construction paper and get out of the way.
From creative spark to schematic drawing, from first revision to final plan — we walked through what it actually takes to move an idea from your imagination to the built environment. Process. Iteration. Persistence. Pulling from the work of Praxis Placemaking Studio, they got to see that architecture extends beyond buildings with discussions around placemaking, public art installations, and graphic design as well.
We're proud to have been part of this initiative alongside AIA Philadelphia, DesignPhiladelphia, AIA's Committee on Architecture for Education, and the AIA College of Fellows, whose sponsorship makes moments like this possible. We love taking part in workshops and have a few ideas of how to incorporate them for all ages — we’re never too old to play with some construction paper and collage.
The pipeline doesn't build itself and we’re excited to be a part of future workshops in our communities.