Wednesday, February 15th was our annual Senior Architectural Showcase at the Howard County's ARL and I would like to congratulate the students hosting such a great event. We had nearly 30 architects come to speak to the students about their projects and provide invaluable feedback that will resonate with them. This year's event was extremely exciting.  It was great to see so many familiar faces and many new faces in addition to two alumni members. As for the project, it presented many new challenges which the students had to work through. The students spent endless hours and many long evenings on this project, and the amount of dedication was unprecedented. I'm so proud of not only the projects but also their presentations. A special thank you goes out to our new mentor sites who decided to give our students a chance having a 10 week internship and we are very excited to begin these new partnerships. 

November 19, 2016, from 1:00pm - 5:00pm ET

There is a great opportunity this weekend for you to visit many of the top architectural schools from around the county. Please visit the link below to find more information and register for the event.

I highly recommend that you attend this event.

2016 College + Career Expo Link

UMD's Micheal Scott Brick comes to visit the ADA Program at the ARL.

I hope that your summer is going well. Below you will find the documents and summer project. Please have all of the documents printed and signed for day one of class. Also, please take the time to complete the summer enrichment project below.

2016-17_architectural_design_academy_syllabus.docx
2016-17_arl_tool_safety_slip.docx
2016-17_code_of_conduct.docx
2017_summer_assignment_1st_year_students.pdf


​Summer Enrichment Activities – Level I


Part 1: SketchUp - Chair

• Visit www.SketchUp.com then download it for free and install it on your computer. SketchUp is one of the programs that you will use in this class, if is also used in many architectural firms & colleges.
  • Enter the SketchUp installer, follow the installation instructions (defaults should be acceptable).
  • After installing SketchUp, run the program.
  • Use the URL below for instructional videos to learn the basic SketchUp functions. http://www.sketchup.com/learn/videos
  • Also watch “Google SketchUp New Users 4: Create a Chair” from www.YouTube.com
  • Design a chair, but make it different from the one shown in the video, be creative.
  • Print it out to be turned in the first week of class.

 
Part 2: SketchUp - Shelter

• During this section of the assignment you will be creating an emergency shelter. Amenities: Your shelter must offer protection from the elements and provide a space for one person to study and sleep. Keep it simple.
  • Create 5 hand sketches of different designs.
  • Create a Detailed 3d Sketch-up model of your final design.
  • Build a small study model out of any materials you what.
    • Keep your shelter small—no larger than 100 square feet, and it needs to fit and be transported on by tractor trailer, http://drivinglaws.aaa.com/laws/trailer-dimensions/.
  • Print it out to be turned in the first week of class. If you are unable to print it, please have the file on a flash drive.

 
Part 3: SketchUp – Your bedroom

• Go to; http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-build-building-google-sketchup-143356/
• Watch the videos, there are several, the more you watch the easer it will be to complete the assignment.
• Draw the floor plan of your bedroom. Go to the Google SketchUp Warehouse to add 3D objects; beds, chairs, etc. If you feel inclined draw the floor plan of your house.
• Print it out to be turned in the first week of class.

           
Part 4: Sketch Journal

• Start a sketch book
  • Get a sketch book, approximately 8 1/2 x 11, it’s required for class.
  • Sketch something interesting from your room, full page.
  • Research and find a style architecture you really like, then find a picture of a building that matches that style. Create a full page sketch of that building.
  • Try to do the sketch in an isometric fashion, (An isometric drawing is one that shows three faces
  • The sketches will be turned in the first week of class.

 
Have a great a summer!
 
Feel free to contact me if you have any question;
Mr. Walker – [email protected]
 
 
Place your name in the subject line of the email if you contact me.

Ran across this on my news feed and just wanted to share. World Architecture Festival award winners, really cool stuff.

LINK

The students of the ADA were tasked with selecting a piece of Lissitzky’s Suprematism art. They were then tasked to analyze the art and develop a concept sketches of what they thought their art would look like if it were 3d.
 
El Lissitzky was a graphic artist but also most do not know that he was an architect. His artwork was revolutionary, proving to be a main part in Suprematism. This style is comprised of flat geometric shapes into a bigger piece of art.
 
Here at the Architectural Design Academy, we decided to create a project base on Lissitzky’s work. The class was tasked with completing three small chipboard models that represented a piece of Lissitzky’s art. We were allowed to pick our own piece of Lissitzky’s art. We then had to create a final larger scale model out of chipboard that represented our Lissitzky art. The class did an excellent job on this project. In the end, all of our displays were hung in the hallway.

I'd first like to congratulate the Architectural Design Academy - Class of 2016 for a job well done and also thank everyone that was able to come out to support our students. The Architectural Showcase is an annual tradition at the ARL and from year to year the continued support is amazing. It is always great to see the familiar faces of our long-time supports and it was great to see so many new faces this year. The project this year ended up being an extremely challenging for the students with so many snow days, but as architectural students do..... they "tuff'ed it out" and got it done. The students referred to the project as "eye-opening" and "rewarding". In my book that is a win. Out of the graduates of the program I am proud to say 7 of them are going to continue with their architectural education, 1 architectural engineer, and 2 are entering civil engineering. Below you will find shots from the event. If you'd like to be apart of the event next year please email me at [email protected] for information.

It's always great to have alumni come back to visit and share their new experiences. ​

It has become somewhat of a tradition in the ADA to spend a day building some really special holiday architectural models.