The architecture school at the U is teaming up with the Girl Scouts organization to open up the world of architecture to young girls. The hope is that by teaching and encouraging the girls, some of them might enter the field when they grow up.
Currently, there are far more men than women in the field of architecture, a situation the school hopes to help remedy through the partnership they have established with the Girl Scouts.
The school is both designing and helping construct three new cabins at the Girl Scouts’ Trefoil Ranch in Provo Canyon using wood damaged by pine beetles. They are working with a group of Girl Scouts to develop the designs, which will become reality by the end of the summer.
On Saturday, a group of about 75 Girl Scouts came to the architecture school, where they learned about the history of women in architecture, planting terrariums using washed out plastic drink bottles and learned about structure and building. They also drew out decorations for the future cabins.
Many of the girls, wearing shirts reading “I’m an archi-chick” felt excited about the possibility of becoming architects after a day of imagining and designing.
Angella Van Valkenburg, a third-grade Girl Scout, said she wants to become an architect because she will get to design.
“I like designing stuff and making my personality,” Van Valkenburg said.
The girls also learned about what it is like to work with clients and design something they would like.
The cabins will be made of solid wood without insulation, since they are designed only for summer use. They will also have bunk beds, and each will be equipped with its own reading light, something that Rachel Sipos, another third-grade scout and an avid reader, is excited about.
“I want to sleep in [the cabin] so bad,” she said.
The school has been in contact with the Girl Scouts about the plans for the cabins throughout the year. They are now waiting to get a building permit before starting construction on the cabins.Contractors have already begun cutting wood to the desired dimensions so that, as soon as the permit is obtained, construction can begin.
At the end of the event, architects showed the girls their renderings of the cabin, explaining the shorthand and codes included on their plans. It was exciting for the girls, who started envisioning spending time in the sleek cabins.
The Girl Scouts learned that part of architecture is creating a building that will work well in the setting where it is built. The cabins are designed to blend into the woods in the summer, with long windows.
“I wish I could walk in the picture and sleep in it,” said Liberty Scott, a third-grade Girl Scout.
Scott also wants to be an architect, especially because she wants to grow up to be like her father who is an architect.
“I want to be an architect, because I like building, and I like doing what my dad does,” she said.