This camp is designed for the camper interested in art and the built world around them. Campers will spend the week discussing design principles for cities and the urban landscape, aesthetics and functional form in achitecture, the impact that the built world has on the environment, historical perspective and social responsiblity, as well as the many careers associated with architecture like interior architecture, urban design, landscape architecture and community planning.

Each day campers will participate in hands-on exercises and technical demonstrations dealing with the design and construction of buildings, bridges, and other structures. Campers will participate in teams to build a balsa wood tower based on ideas discussed during a week and compete in a load baring competition with their structures on Friday.

Teams will be awarded points based on the height of their tower and the amount of bricks that it can hold before crushing under the weight of the bricks stacked on top of it.

In addition to this project, local architect, Dave Dobrin Sr. will spend a day with campers discussing his career and business, explaining blueprints and how they become reality and answering camper's questions.

As a special treat, campers will travel to Ann Arbor for a day to visit the University of Michigan's MiSo Design Studio (Michigan Solor House Project). MiSo is a collaborative project between 5 different schools within the university where students are building an 800 square foot solar powered home that will compete in a Solar Decathlon in Washington DC in September 2005. Campers will spend the afternoon getting a sneak peak at the project, talking with the students involved in its design and participating in a short solar workshop.

Visit these sites for more information on MiSo
http://www.umich.edu/~miso/

http://www.eere.energy.gov/solar_decathlon

This Camp is open to boys and girls ages 8-13