studio lab
LEARNING BY DESIGN:
Structured + Unstructured
“Everything that is not made by nature is designed by someone.” – Chip Kidd
Erike joined the staff at the Center for Architecture and Design (the Center) in 2018 and began managing DesignPhiladelphia, the oldest festival of its kind in the country (began in 2005). Its mission, to make Philadelphia a hub for design excellence, support economic opportunities for local designers, and demonstrate to the public the impact of design on our everyday lives. New in 2018, the DPKidsFest was inspired by Erike’s two young children--to educate and inspire the public.
Prior to arriving the Center, and while on staff through March 2020 (staff layoffs due to COVID-19), Erike managed and executed programs that engage students from nursery-age to college students, and lifelong learners. She has facilitated special workshops and design charrettes for high school students, social impact and community building for college student organizations. Erike creates and facilitates family workshops focused on architecture and design, introducing design principles in a fun and easily understood methods.
DesignPhiladelphia KIDSFEST. Introduced the DP KidsFest, a two-day kid-centric mini-festival on the first weekend of the annual multi-day DesignPhiladelphia festival. KidsFest is held at an on-site downtown location or festival hub location, and off-site neighborhood location in order to broaden the audience to include children who rarely, if ever, get to the city center. Locations have included: Smith Memorial Playground in Fairmount Park, by the nearby and underprivileged Strawberry Mansion neighborhood of North Philadelphia; the Barnes Foundation located in the museum district and Fairmount/Art Museum neighborhood, and Cherry Street Pier, a mixed-use public space on the central Delaware River waterfront built into the shell of a century-old municipal pier. At these locations bringing design-focused physical activities in open space, and activities focused on the design process the re-imagination of space, and providing feedback on shared ideas.
DESIGN + BUILD FAMILY WORKSHOPS. Children (ideally ages 5-12) and their grown-ups dive into the design process through storytelling and a built project from the imagination, explore the building blocks of architecture and the expansive discipline of design, the city, and honing creative problem-solving skills. Locations have included the Center for Architecture and Design, in Center City Philadelphia, to offsite locations for Philadelphia Parks & Recreation special programs during select seasons.
SCHOOL VISITS + MINI WORKSHOPS. Childcare, school, and summer camp groups visit the Center for Architecture and Design scheduled and unannounced, where the staff has met and spoke to about architecture and design, opportunities to volunteer, and upcoming events.
SELECT PAST WORKSHOPS
Typography (font style and typeface), photography, and illustration are the problem-solving tools of a graphic designer to communicate to the world visually.
Join us for a reading of Annette Simon’s Mocking Birdies, as we explore the process of a graphic designer through shapes, layouts, and letters. We’ll explore the vocabulary to talk about visual communication, whether it’s a wayfinding, a website, packaging or signage. Every grown-up and young designer will leave with their own project(s), whether a newly designed font or a sign to add to your room wall or future portfolio. We’re sure you won’t see signs or websites the same anymore!
ALL AGES | Investigate Materials
You can touch materials, walk on them, wear them, and build with them! But how do architects and designers choose them?
Join a reading of Andrea Beaty’s Iggy Peck, Architect, illustrated by David Roberts, as we explore the built environment and design through materials. We’ll explore the vocabulary to describe materials and reasoning behind their function, whether it’s materials on a building as an architect, a room as an interior designer, a board game as an industrial designer, or clothing as a fashion designer. Every grown-up and young designer will leave with their own material collection for continuous play and investigation on your daily adventures at home, at school, and everywhere in between.
Take a tour of Alphabet City by Stephen T. Johnson. We’ll find letters in the unlikeliest places, and together we’ll explore color, forms, and words as a graphic designer. Every grown-up and young designer could leave with their own poster, font, or sign.
Learn about architecture and design through fundamental principles every designer and discipline learn in school.
You see it on buildings, streets, posters, shirts, blankets, even cookies! PATTERNS, PATTERNS, EVERYWHERE!
Join a reading of Bobby and June George’s My First Book of Patterns, art by Boyoun Kim. This first-ever patterns concept book provides young audiences the vocabulary to name what they see in the world around them. The ten most prevalent patterns are presented as a single element, then as a pattern. Every grown-up and young designer will explore the color, shapes, and design their own pattern to take home.
This workshop was later re-invented for a "mini-workshop" for pre-school students.
Architecture and engineering have many times been used interchangeably, but how are they different? And how is it that you can’t be without the other to make an impact in the built environment. Go team!
Join a fun workshop to learn how architecture and engineering support each other to create some of the most iconic structures in the world. Design, build, and test the strength and accuracy of your own structures in anticipation of National Engineers Week (February 17 - 23, 2019)!
READ + MAKE | Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing (ages 5-8)
After fourteen years of construction, the Brooklyn Bridge was completed, and opened in 1883, much to the delight of the sister cities it connected: Brooklyn and Manhattan. It was the longest in the world and two stone landing were the tallest structures in North America. Designed by John Roebling and completed by his son and daughter-in-law Washington and Emily Roebling, the bridge stirred controversy over its cost, size, safety, and even its very necessity. One man seized the opportunity to show people that the Bridge was in fact strong enough to hold even the heaviest of passengers. P.T. Barnum, creator of “The Greatest Show on Earth.”
Join a reading of April Jones Prince Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing, a great realistic fiction book about how P.T. Barnum used the biggest passengers imaginable to show the public how safe and sturdy the Brooklyn Bridge was upon its completion. Afterwards, create your own paper structure and test how much weight it can hold!
After fourteen years of construction, the Brooklyn Bridge was completed, and opened in 1883, much to the delight of the sister cities it connected: Brooklyn and Manhattan. It was the longest in the world and two stone landing were the tallest structures in North America. Designed by John Roebling and completed by his son and daughter-in-law Washington and Emily Roebling, the bridge stirred controversy over its cost, size, safety, and even its very necessity. One man seized the opportunity to show people that the Bridge was in fact strong enough to hold even the heaviest of passengers. P.T. Barnum, creator of “The Greatest Show on Earth.”
Join a reading of April Jones Prince Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing, a great realistic fiction book about how P.T. Barnum used the biggest passengers imaginable to show the public how safe and sturdy the Brooklyn Bridge was upon its completion. Afterwards, create your own paper structure and test how much weight it can hold!