About

The Summer Career Workshop is a 4-week in-person workshop culminating in a gallery exhibit open to parents, families and supporters. Through this hands-on studio experience, students are introduced to design fundamentals such as introducing light and shadow, space and sequence, texture, materiality and climate as well as computer applications, structural engineering, and site and community planning. Through daily projects, students will develop a portfolio of work over these 4 weeks. The workshop is led by CAED faculty with small studios led by recent architecture graduates as mentors and guides. No previous experience with architecture, drafting or art is necessary. Participating students live on campus in Cal Poly residence halls, where they become familiar with the dynamics of university life. Supervision is provided by live-in counselors from the CAED. Responsibility and social skills develop as long-term friendships emerge. From this experience, students are able to discern their interest in architecture as a field of study and career, as well as adjacent fields in city and regional planning, landscape architecture, architectural engineering, or construction management. The workshop studios are in session from 9am-4pm M-F, and Saturdays from about 10:30-3:30pm. Unlike lecture-based learning that many students are familiar with, in the workshop students are so engaged with hands-on projects they quickly realize that this time passes quite quickly! Social activities are equally important to the academic life of the workshop, with both evening and Sunday activities planned around student engagement and interaction.