I’m not going to talk about an internship at a company or an office. This idea, whether it is mandatory at the university or not, was already the first thing that came to your mind. Let’s continue our list with other items:
1. Join Summer Programs
Summer is a great time to take part in an immersive program to gain new skills or consolidate your portfolio. I am adding you links to the summer programs of several wonderful universities and academies:
- Harvard GSD Design Discovery
A 3-week in-person program at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design in Cambridge, MA for individuals interested in gaining knowledge within a single design discipline – Architecture, Landscape, or Urban Planning and Design. This program uses hands-on physical modeling, fabrication, and assembly to engage the material and scale of a selected design discipline.
More info: https://earlydesigneducation.gsd.harvard.edu/harvard-gsd-design-discovery/
- Royal College of Art Summer School
This six-day short course is ideal preparation for a Master’s study and will give participants an opportunity to experience the environment and methodologies of spatial design studies at the RCA while preparing material that can contribute to a design portfolio.
Supported by expert staff from across architecture and interior design with opportunities for individual work and collaborative projects. Projects are supported by course tutors and external contributors with a varied range of expertise.
More info: https://www.rca.ac.uk/study/programme-finder/architecture-summer-school/
- Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
In the summer semester of 2022, students and teachers will meet again on site on the campus of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, in seminar rooms, lecture halls, and workshops. The semester takes place as a face-to-face semester.
- University of Houston Design Experience Summer Programs
The UH Design Experience Summer Programs are for high school, college, and degreed professionals looking for a potential career in Architecture, Interior Architecture, and/or Industrial Design. Design Experience provides a culturally enriched, learning-by-doing introduction to the different design disciplines available for undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Houston Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design.
In addition to design projects, the five-week programs include lectures on architectural history and technology, building case studies, and field trips to buildings of special interest. Students will also visit architecture offices in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Austin.
More info: https://uh.edu/architecture/special-programs/summer-discovery/
- Cornell’s College of AAP Summer Programs
This intensive program will introduce you to architectural ideas, principles, and methods of exploring architectural problems in a studio setting.
In small groups, you’ll work in the studio, attend lectures, and develop skills in workshops on representational techniques and portfolio design.
More info: https://sce.cornell.edu/courses/roster/architecture-summer
2. Trip to Europe: The London School of Architecture’s Summer Show
The London School of Architecture’s Summer Show 2022 will be a unique celebration of the LSA’s sixth cohort of graduating Part II students, alongside other projects from across the School taking place between 18-25th June.
The public exhibition of architectural work reflects the LSA’s ambition to approach the design of the built environment in interdisciplinary, inclusive, and sustainable ways. The LSA is a different kind of architecture school, which offers a radically more accessible and collaborative model of architectural education. We are research-led, practice-embedded, and responsive to a changing world.
The exhibition takes place at Holy Trinity Dalston, an avenue local to the school within the London Borough of Hackney. Throughout the show, an associated program of events – announced in due course – will activate students’ work discursively and bring the LSA’s graduating body into close contact with practice.
More info and tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lsa-summer-show-2022-tickets-344644078717
3. Be Volunteer
It will be a great experience to work on volunteer projects to help people, raise awareness in society, and set ourselves challenges by getting out of our comfort zone.
There are tons of opportunities for volunteering, wherever you live. It doesn’t have to involve architecture or be a huge commitment. Just for good aims.
There are options such as Construction Volunteering in Guatemala or Fiji. Or agriculture volunteering in Romania. You can always search for other organizations online.
4. Go to the Cinema
The thing that upset me the most during the semester was that I couldn’t keep up with the vision films because of the juries and exams. The summer season is perfect for just that! Grab a bucket of popcorn and don’t miss any movie. I am adding the dates of some of the movies I have been waiting for, and I have a suggestion for those we missed in the comfort of your home seat: binge-watch.
June 17, 2022 Lightyear – Animation (Origin story of Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story <3)
June 24, 2022 Elvis – Biography
July 8, 2022 Thor: Love and Thunder – Marvel Movie
July 15, 2022 The Grey Man – Action, Thriller
July 15, 2022 Mrs.Harris Goes to Paris – Comedy, Drama
August 5, 2022 Bullet Train – Action
August 31, 2022 Three Thousand Years of Longing – Drama, Fantasy
5. Keep a Sketch Journal
I foresee that you enjoy drawing. In the process, you can start keeping a sketchy diary in your own way, so as not to forget to hold a pencil and spend creative time together. Scrapbooks or collage journals are also other options.
6. Learn a New Programming Language
I know you want to take a break from learning. But in this IT age in which we live, there can be no better opportunity to learn a software language, coding, that we all need to start learning somehow and that can make a difference in the market. With these short learning breaks in student life, you can stand out in business life.
7. Learn How to Cook
If your student life has been like mine, eating a slice of pizza on a laptop, or a snack while running to the jury, it’s time to start eating healthy and preparing your metabolism for the new semester.
Both being able to do something on your own (basic human needs) and spending time in the kitchen will feel like therapy. Bon appetit!
8. Wander around
It will be a nice experience to get away from the place where you have been standing steadily all year, to go to the city where you were born or to a completely new place. Perhaps a tiny architectural detail that you see out of the blue, a different culture that you have learned, or a new knowledge that you have acquired will save your project in the next semester, you never know.
Or do not think about the project at all for a while, start posing cool for Instagram!
Have a nice vacation.
Let me know if you have any inspiring plans!