This summer, more than 100 young people of color came to East LA College to learn about the basics of architecture, engineering, and urban planning at the 2019 Project Pipeline Architecture & Engineering Summer Camp. Partner Energy sponsored this event for the second consecutive year.
Now in its 10th year, Project Pipeline is a national initiative started by the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) to introduce young people of color to architecture. Minorities and people of color currently comprise about 10 percent of licensed architects in America, according to NOMA.
Partner Energy’s Sustainability Director, Lance Collins, is also President of the southern California chapter, SoCalNOMA. Lance participates in Summer Camp activities each year, saying, “Helping young people visualize the possibilities for their future, and the future of their communities, is incredibly rewarding.”
Each year, SoCalNOMA Summer Camp organizers select an exciting, visible project in the campers’ community as the setting for Summer Camp activities. This year’s setting was the Destination Crenshaw outdoor museum project, which includes construction of the new Metro station. Students designed their own buildings for the areas around the Crenshaw Metro line, imagining new gathering places in their changing community. Students visited the project site and met with project representatives to understand how Destination Crenshaw will progress from idea to reality.
On the fourth and final Saturday, the students reconvened at East LA College to present their final projects, and take a tour of the School of Architecture.
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