Trained as architects from age 4

The Arkki School of Architecture for Children and Youth continues its commitment to educate children and adolescents of ages 4-18.

 

In April-May 2010, Arkki organizes a training course for high-school graduates to prepare them for the admission tests of university architectural departments. In May 2009, Arkki took to New York to hold workshops for children during the New York Design Week.

 

Assessed by the scope of the curriculum, Arkki is the world’s leading architectural school for children and adolescents. More than 350 students attend courses on a long-term basis. In addition, Arkki offers short-term architectural training for some 1,000 students each year. Children and adolescents can join at any age. 

 

Children from 4 to 6 attend in Child & Parent Groups, learning architecture through play and imaginative projects. They build models using various materials.

 

Children from 7 to 13 join clubs where they learn about cultural history, design traditions, forms, mass, structures, the symbolic language of architecture, and sustainability, among many other phenomena embraced by the field of architecture.

 

At ages 14 to 18, students join advanced study groups, where the topics grow more profound and complex. The scale ranges from the design of door handles to the planning of cities.

 

The clubs and groups meet after school hours at three locations in Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa. Throughout the month of June, Arkki organizes summer camps: art and design camps at the Kaapelitehdas (Cable Factory) art factory, the school’s Helsinki operating base, as well as hut-building and family camps in the Laajalahti nature reserve in Espoo.