Making and End of Year Projects

I love the end of the year-with students working non-stop on final projects in architecture charette mode. The energy in my room is electric. Students bring friends by to see their models. Students from different sections of architecture see the work of other students who aren't in their class. They are inspired by others' ideas and then add on to their own work in a last minute rush. It's exciting.

I always ask, "What's so great about making something?" And they are all quick to answer. 'It's something that's yours. No one else made it.' 'It comes from your own ideas, and then it's real and you can hold it.' 'It's something you can look back on later and know that you figured it out. It's proof.' Our students get it... They need teachers and parents to help them do it more.

For their final projects Architecture I students create a model that controls their viewer's path through space. They are given constraints: walls may be no more than six inches high, the site is 20 x 20", etc... But within those restrictions, they create varied and individual work that reflects their personalities. I'm very proud of them and so I am sharing some of the best ones here: