Architecture and Landscape Architecture Summer Camp returns virtually

UNIVERSTY PARK, Pa. — Due to lingering concerns surrounding the COVID-19 virus and its variants, Penn State’s 2021 Architecture and Landscape Architecture Summer Camp will be held remotely — from July 12-15 — for the second consecutive year.

Geared toward high school students interested in the fields of design, architectural engineering and/or construction management, the four-day event provides campers the opportunity to participate in hands-on exercises and activities that are typical of university-level professional design students, such as drawing and model-building, in a small virtual studio setting.  

Stuckeman School faculty members from the highly ranked architecture and landscape architecture programs — including Cathy Braasch, camp organizer and assistant teaching professor of architecture, and Lauren Sosa, assistant teaching professor of landscape architecture — will lead this year’s camp along with two teaching assistants.

“I think the virtual camp is a great ‘lemons-into-lemonade’ story,” said Braasch. “Last year I designed it on the fly, and it ended up being very successful. We were able to leverage the virtual format to have ‘office visits’ with firms that have received global recognition (Stoss Landscape Urbanism and Danny Forster & Architecture) and the studio assignments were made with affordable or found materials to accommodate the remote environment.”

Last year’s remote event drew 66 high school students from 16 U.S. states and territories — including Puerto Rico, California and Texas — into the virtual Penn State design studios. Braasch is hoping to build on that momentum this summer.

“The camp has both synchronous and asynchronous components,” she said. “We have a lot of real-time discussions with the campers and faculty members shared some of their excellent existing online content. We also used a blog last year to further conversations from the asynchronous content and all of the discussions were very lively.”

Due to the virtual nature of the event, four scholarships are available for students based on financial need and/or cultural diversity rather than the two that are available during in-person camp years.

Traditionally held in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold-certified Stuckeman Family Building on the University Park campus, the camp is an outreach service of the College of Arts and Architecture. 

For more information, including the daily schedule, scholarship information and online registration, visit bit.ly/UPSummerCamp.