Fay Jones School Expands Summer Design Camp to Three Cities, Over Three Weeks

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Students in the 2014 Design Camp walk toward the Anthony Chapel at Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs. Last year was the first time that the summer Design Camp, hosted by the Fay Jones School of Architecture, was held in a second location.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Particular personalities seem drawn to design. Often, they have a passion for drawing. They are creative in many ways and have inventive ideas. Many of them like working with their hands and building things.

Students who take part in Design Camp, hosted this summer by the Fay Jones School of Architecture, will get to explore all of these activities and concepts. The young students will see how they all come together in the work of architects, landscape architects and interior designers.

Three, week-long day camps will be held in June in three locations: the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville on June 8-12, Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs on June 15-19 and Arkansas Studies Institute in Little Rock on June 22-26. Hands-on activities, discussions, presentations and tours will be led by Fay Jones School faculty members from each of the design disciplines, including Alison Turner, who teaches architecture.

The instructors aim to introduce students going into ninth through 12th grades to the design professions and the process that a designer goes through, which is everything from sketching, imagining and brainstorming to drawing, designing and building models. Students also get to visit examples of architecture and other design features during tours at each camp location.

"The tours are great because we can take some of these ideas that we talk about in principle and show how they're applied and how they're realized in real life," Turner said.

The teachers also have the students describe the design of their projects. The students explain their ideas, and how each one went from conception to something more physical and concrete.

"Part of the design process is being able to not only visualize it and draw it, but then describe it to clients, consultants and contractors," she said.

Often, talking about their work and their design process with the larger group helps them make decisions about how to move forward with the design. "Which is a lot of what we do as designers," Turner said. "We collaborate, not only within our own discipline, but with others such as landscape architects, interior designers, and any number of consultants.

A major aspect of design is problem solving, the principles of which can be applied to almost anything in work and life. Referring to architecture specifically, Turner said that a project is never about a singular idea. There is the design element, which many people may think is concerned primarily with an aesthetic appeal. However, the factors that go into the final design involve research and consideration of how that space will function for its end use by the people inhabiting it. Other considerations are the types of materials that will be used to build the structure and how those will wear over time; how the building will be sited; how the building interacts with its context and the environment; how much and the types of energy it uses; and the cost of the total project. A design can evolve over time to adjust to any or all of these variables.

"It's not just aesthetic, but it's making it function properly and creating great spaces. That's part of problem solving, bringing in all those practical factors," Turner said. "There are so many variables in design; it's not just a pretty picture."

In each camp session, students will work with their instructors to create a design project. Over the week, they'll do quick sketching exercises, visit the site of their project, make multiple drawings and build a model of their design.

"We're trying to appeal to students who may have a specific interest in architecture, landscape architecture and interior design, but also students who may just have a general interest in design, drawing, creating or making," Turner said. "Because the camp is relevant to students who may go on to study other visual arts, creative arts or engineering. I think a lot of the design process applies to a lot of different fields."

Turner, who has taught at this camp for the last few years, said that she enjoys working with the junior high and high school students. Students in her college classes already know they're interested in design, and she's helping them advance their knowledge base and expand their skills. For students in the summer design camps, however, the concepts of architecture, interior design and landscape architecture are all brand new to them.

She and the other instructors are able to introduce these young students to design and to show them interesting examples of good design. "I see them experience architecture and start to understand the impact that design can have, not only to them, but on the environment, and just how it can make a better space," she said.

The students often are amazed by the diversity of design concepts and approaches that arise when they all are given the same assignment. Turner said she particularly likes seeing how the students take their own experiences and fold those into their individual projects.

"We always get so many variations on the projects that I never would have anticipated. The students recognize this, and it reinforces the idea that design is objective; there are so many possibilities. There is never only one solution to a problem," she said.

This year, the day camp has expanded from four days to five days, to provide more time for activities. Last year was the first year it was held in Hot Springs, and it returns again this year to Garvan Woodland Gardens, the botanical garden of the University of Arkansas. Also, a third camp location has been added this year in Little Rock. All camps run from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The cost for Design Camp is $250 for early registration by March 30, and $300 for registration by May 22. Need-based scholarships are available.

To register or for more information, contact Judy Stone at jkstone@uark.edu or 479-575-2399.