About

About Us

The Alberti Program: Architecture for Young People allows St. Louis students grades 4 through 8 to explore architecture and design through hands-on learning. This tuition-free program operates as a day camp in the summer. Participants hear lectures, go on field trips, and do hands-on projects. Students receive a nutritious lunch or healthy snacks. They get attentive mentorship and opportunities to meet design professionals, students, and peers. Students from diverse socioeconomic, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds take part each year. The curriculum is engaging for students with and without prior exposure to art and design.

The Alberti Program is an outreach initiative of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, and is supported by partnerships with PGAV Destinations and The Divided City: an Urban Humanities Initiative.

Youth with glasses uses glue gun at a studio desk.

Mission

The Alberti Program has five objectives:

  • Encourage young people from families with low incomes and young people of color to become architects and designers.
  • Fuel the next generation through teaching architecture and design with an emphasis on sustainable environments.
  • Train young people to build skills critical for success and personal development through the lens of design and architecture.
  • Develop and foster responsibility, accountability, contextual learning, and personal growth among Washington University students.
  • Engage in the K-12 education system to cultivate and deepen connections between Washington University and the St. Louis community.