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Prospective Design Students Get Peek at UK College Life
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 7, 2012) — For the second year, the University of Kentucky College of Design has presented two intensive, two-week Summer Career Discovery Programs for high school juniors and seniors interested in architecture and interior design. The program serves to expose and get prospective students involved in the type of learning environment they would experience as design students.
"They live on campus, eat on campus, go to classes, work in studio, and attend lectures," said Martin Summers, assistant professor of architecture who leads the program with instructor Regina Summers. "In many ways, it’s an introduction to life as a student in design school."
Summer Career Discovery participants were involved in daily writing and drawing sessions, model-making workshops and project critiques. They also attended lectures by other college faculty on topics ranging from studies in contemporary architecture and interior design to digital design and fabrication, as well as how to prepare and present a portfolio of work. More than 30 instructors, lecturers, critics and tour guides helped make the program possible, including members of the UK chapters of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS), Interior Design Student Association (IDSA) and Tau Sigma Delta Honor Society.
Program participants demonstrated what they learned in the program by presenting projects in group critiques where they received feedback from the instructors, fellow participants and other faculty members and guests. "The format is exactly the same as what a first-year student would experience," Martin Summers said.
There were also opportunities for participants to get involved with the professional architecture community through visits to local design firms including Gray Construction, Omni Architects, Tate/Hill/Jacobs Architects, Alt32 Architecture and EOP Architects. These firms all have ties to the college, participate in reviews, and many employ UK design graduates.
The highlight for many of the student participants was seeing the correlation between the concepts taught in lectures and workshops and the real-world execution of those concepts. "It’s always nice to see the fascination in things they’ve never seen before," said Regina Summers. "One of the most exciting things was to not only see the friendships formed between the participants, but to see them gain confidence and comfort in the concepts they’re learning."
To see images of session one of the Summer Career Discovery Program, click play on the video below.
To see images of session two of the Summer Career Discovery Program, click play on the video below.
MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, (859) 257-8716
or whitney.hale@uky.edu
