Architecture Explorations is a multifaceted project including an exhibition of works from the collection of the Heinz Architectural Center and summer art and architecture camps for kids and teens.

The objects on view in the exhibition include models and almost three dozen drawings of various types chosen to support themes in the camp programs, particularly sketching, architectural drawing, geometric form, and the iterative design process. Several recent acquisitions, including a model of a villa in Doha, Qatar, and a pair of models for a proposed bank building in Amsterdam, show the creative geometric shapes often used by architects. Students may also be inspired by sketchbooks, on view for the first time, that demonstrate the many ways architects explore ideas.

In the design studios temporarily housed in these galleries, campers investigate all kinds of structures—houses, bridges, office buildings, and museums, to name a few—and their changing use, design, and construction across history. This summer, Architecture 101, for high school students, will also explore computer processes and digitization techniques, often used in the architecture profession. You are welcome to observe the students at work, as they learn about the logic and wonder of this most fundamental of human arts.

Architecture Explorations camps are presented in collaboration with the Carnegie Mellon University School of Architecture.