A new student-led organization is hoping to get Metro Vancouver's youth interested in architecture and its role in solving local issues.
Young Architects for Change, founded only a few months ago, is launching a new regional day-long competition. Design for Change will grow interest in the industry and ideas of architecture and urban design, Kyle Chen, YAC's current president, tells V.I.A.
Opening the door to architecture
"It was just a month or two ago that I realized there weren't a lot of opportunities for high schoolers who want to be architects or designers," explains Chen.
The group, many of whom met last summer through a program at UBC, decided to organize an in-person team competition with jurors that would give their peers a chance at project-based learning.
"It might just be personal, but a lot of people have been saying to me architecture is really hard or really time-consuming," says Chen. "But I feel like in this city we just need more opportunity or more outreach."
They were partly inspired by friends who participated in similar competitions directed at students headed into business.
"They're given a prompt," says Chen. "The students are able to use their own creativity or strategic thinking to solve a problem."
UBC professor Joseph Dahmen, who's part of the university's School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA) and will be a juror, says the school is excited to be a part of the competition.
"We've recognized in the last five years or so that reaching out to the high schools is a great way to get design into the local curriculum," Dahmen says, adding that he didn't consider a career in architecture until after high school.
The professor sees the competition as a good way to introduce high school students to the complex nature of architecture and design in today’s world.
"Even a relatively small architectural project has 10 sub-consultants," he notes.
The competition
The Museum of Vancouver has come on board to host the day-long competition at the Kitsilano venue on May 25.
It'll be a gallery set up, Chen says. Students will share and discuss their solutions to the prompt (which will be announced April 1) with jurors and the public.
Teams will come up with an architectural solution to the prompt and create a model to exhibit.
"The prompt will involve a problem in Metro Vancouver," says Chen, like the heat dome or public space in the city.
He notes the public is free to attend the event, which will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
"We want to show that not only are we giving the opportunity to young designers," says Chen. "But show the city how young people view the city and solve problems through design."
Registration for Design for Change has opened. A total of 30 teams (with four team members) will be accepted. Registration closes March 30. Teams from anywhere in B.C. can participate.
Prizes include vouchers to Petit Architecture, a local kids' architecture organization, or an internship with the organization.
