EVOKE recently welcomed over forty girls from Farmville Middle School in Pitt County into our office for an introduction to architecture, design activities, and a local tour. All of the participants are members of a program called ‘OWLS’ [Occupations Women Likely Skip] created at the school. The OWLS program allows girls who otherwise might not be exposed to STEM concepts and career options to explore and consider whether these fields interest them. The students had selected architecture as one of the top careers they wanted to investigate, and we were happy to speak with them about what we do.

We kicked off their visit as all events should: with delicious donuts! Then the students split into groups to complete several activities, making the most of their time in Durham. Edwin gave a tour of the EVOKE office, complete with a demonstration of the ever-popular 3D printer, while Teri’s presentation on architecture and what architects do touched on both historic and contemporary architecture examples, as well as what responsibilities architects carry out on a daily basis.

Teri sharing the Mary Potter Cultural Complex

Billy and Brittany were stationed outside at the nearby farmer’s market lawn for a hands-on building activity. Small groups of girls teamed up to build dog house concepts with the AIA NC Scale-Up kits, which consist of PVC pipes and fittings – some teams built their dog houses full-scale, while others built at a smaller model scale. The process required the students to communicate effectively to design one piece and work through the challenges of building as a team. When time was up, each team presented what they had built and touched on the thoughts behind their design. Equally as impressive, no two dog houses were alike.

The teams share their doghouse designs at the Farmer’s Market.

We closed the group’s visit to Durham with a walking tour, covering a small portion of the city and its ongoing architectural development. The students were able to see a mix of long-standing Durham buildings as well as one of the newest projects, the in-progress renovation of the Durham Main Branch Library.

EVOKE was thrilled to give the OWLS girls an introduction to architecture, and we have high hopes for some future architects from this group!

Farmville Middle's OWLS program visits EVOKE