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DAD – Discover Architecture + Design

Whether we are designing an app., bench, landscape, skyscraper, or a city’s transportation network, architects and designers need to be aware of the complex interactions of materials, humans, time, and the ever-shifting patterns of natural and social systems. Working at multiple scales at once, architecture & design professions make use of both analog and digital tools to learn about and create the buildings, objects and experiences that are a part of our daily lives.  

The Program

Cambridge & Boston. Rather than simply looking at the city as tourists, we will actively engage with the places we visit, asking questions about how these buildings and neighborhoods were made or changed over time, how they are used by residents and visitors, and how they interact with other features of the city around them. In addition to being physical and academic, our interactions with the city and its neighborhoods will be gastronomic, as we sample some of the best local cheap-eats along our tour routes. 

Subway, bus, and walking tours are three ways to see the city, in addition, we will take a kayak tour along the Charles River. Paddling in the heart of Boston & Cambridge presents a phenomenal and unique view of the Boston skyline, the Esplanade, MIT and numerous other Boston and Cambridge landmarks.

Along with riding, walking, eating, and paddling, we will visit an architecture office and design office to get a sense of how our buildings, products & experiences are imagined, designed and brought into existence.  

Finally, we’ll apply our newly acquired knowledge and experiences to a hands-on, full scale design project which will be an opportunity to design and fabricate a change to our physical environment…if only for a day.

DA+D Specifics

  • Dates: Tuesday, August 22 – Saturday, August 26, 2023
  • Place: Boston, Cambridge & the MIT campus (first year housing in your assigned dormitory)
  • Available Spaces: 12
  • Cost: no charge