Architecture Essentials
Expand your design know-how and problem-solving skills through hands-on activities and interactive challenges using things you can find around the house (Ages 7-12).
Strong Shapes
Ever wonder what keeps our buildings standing tall? Join Angela for a 15 minute, hands-on exploration of two systems engineers use when designing structures large and small.
Materials
All buildings are made out of materials chosen not just for the way they look but for structural and safety reasons, too. This episode of Architecture Essentials is all about a special kind of material called terra cotta. Often seen as part of the outside “skin” of a building, architects used terra cotta to help fireproof some of Chicago’s earliest skyscrapers. A brownish orange color in its natural state, terra cotta is also commonly used to make pots for flowers and plants.
Building Historic Skyscrapers
Chicago is home to some of the oldest skyscrapers in the world. These buildings grew even taller as skeleton-frame construction replaced load-bearing masonry. CAC Senior Manager of Education and Experience Angela Esposito visits two neighboring towers on Jackson Boulevard that are perfect examples of the two very different techniques. “Be a skyscraper” at home with a physical activity that lets you feel why these historic buildings still stand tall after more than 100 years.
Drawings
Whether drawn with pencil and paper or created on a computer, architectural drawings—such as elevations, plans and sections—are at the core of the design process. This episode of Architecture Essentials brings us into the kitchen, where you’ll use a bell pepper or other medium-sized fruit or vegetable to practice these key types of architectural drawings.
Found City
For this week’s episode of Architecture Essentials and its at-home activity, we’re inviting tomorrow’s landscape architects and urban planners to design the neighborhoods they want to live in. Let’s head over to the ArcelorMittal Design Studio and get started with CAC Senior Manager of Education and Experience Angela Esposito.
Modeling and Scale
For this week’s episode of Architecture Essentials and its at-home activity, we’re learning how architects, builders and designers use scale to shrink entire buildings down to a size that fits on a piece of paper. Let’s join CAC Senior Manager of Education and Experience Angela Esposito in the Chicago Gallery at the Chicago Architecture Center; use this link //bit.ly/2LOjGp6 to access the handout she mentions around the four-minute mark.
LEGO Inspiration
For this episode of Architecture Essentials, we gathered all the LEGO blocks we could find for design challenges based on Earth, in the water, in the air—and in outer space. Let’s join CAC Senior Manager of Education and Experience Angela Esposito in the ArcelorMittal Design Studio at the Chicago Architecture Center to get started.
