About

ArcStart is a pre-college, residential, architecture program that introduces high school students to the built environment, core design principles, and the academic culture of the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning. Within a rigorous university setting, students come to understand how a design education equips them to interpret and shape the world around them.

Participants take part in an immersive studio environment, engage in hands-on workshops that build analytical and conceptual skills, and work closely with peers in a lively and supportive learning community.

The program offers exposure to many dimensions of architectural practice. Students learn to use specialized drawing, drafting, and modeling tools, explore architectural history, develop original design proposals, and curate their work into a digital portfolio. They also participate in local site visits that highlight the region’s rich architectural landscape, tour professional architecture firms, and hear directly from designers, practitioners and educators about their work and careers.