Model students

Exeter Summer course provides hands-on experience in introductory architecture.

Midday light pours through arched windows into the top floor of the Mayer Art Center as focused students hunch over drafting tables, sketchbooks open, chipboard and X-Acto knives in-hand. Instructor Brian Murphy surveys the scene, “They’re working on designing their own design studio and building small scale models,” he says of his upper school students. “It’s about learning the language of how to communicate an idea.”

This week’s project is the latest in the Architectural Design Process class, an introductory course where students learn the basic principles of architectural design and process. In addition to creating, students also learn by observation during walkabouts led by Murphy, a professional architect in nearby Portsmouth, NH, through Exeter’s sprawling campus.

“This campus is a great place to have an introduction to architecture. We have many generations of buildings represented and we have one of the best-known icons of mid-century modern architecture in the library [designed by] a world-famous architect, Louis Kahn.”

The students in the class arrived at Exeter Summer with varying levels of knowledge of architecture. New York City-resident, and rising senior, Jessica says she plans to study architecture in college.

“I was always drawing, so people used to tell me, oh you should be an architect,” she says. “I’ve done a bunch of courses outside of school for architecture and I just think it’s really interesting.”

Pointing to the scale model on her desk, Jessica explains some of the choices she’s made in designing her dream studio.

“I just really like having a lot of open space, so I wanted to make something with huge windows,” she says. “I felt like having two completely open sides would allow me to be inspired by what’s outside.”

One table over, Lia is using today’s class period to overhaul her original plan.

“I started with something more conventional because I didn’t really know what to do, but I felt like I was forcing it,” she says. “I started doing the model and I got the proportions wrong, so I had to start over.”

She used the setback to get a bit more ambitious with her design.

“I was like, ‘What if I do something with a circle?’ And once I started drawing it transformed into this,” she says pointing at her scale model.

“There’s a terrace here, this part would be all windows and try to incorporate a lot of nature, which I like.” The Dominican Republic-native says she didn’t have much prior architectural knowledge and has loved the opportunity to learn about the process, “I never thought I would be designing something like this,” she says with a smile.