Architecture Merit Badge

Architecture is not just the special buildings like cathedrals, museums, or sports stadiums we read about or see on television; it is as normal as the homes, places of worship, schools, and shopping malls where we live, worship, work, learn, and play every day. However, architecture is more than just common shelter; building has always satisfied the human need to create something of meaning. Even the simplest form of architecture is a work of art that requires thought and planning.

Requirements

1. Tour your community and list the different building types you see. Try to identify buildings that can be associated with a specific period of history. Make a sketch of the building you most admire.
2. Arrange to meet with an architect. Ask to see the architect's office and to talk about the following:
   1. Careers in architecture
   2. Educational requirements
   3. Tools an architect uses
   4. Processes involved in a building project
3. Arrange to visit a construction project with the project's architect. Ask to see the construction drawings so that you can compare how the project is drawn on paper to how it is actually built. Notice the different building materials. Find out how they are to be used, why they were selected, and what determines how they are being put together.
4. Interview the owner or occupant of a home or other building (your "client"). Find out what your client's requirements would be for designing a new home or business facility. Write down all of your client's requirements that you think would affect layout or design of the new facility.
5. Measure your bedroom. Make an accurately scaled drawing of the floor plan indicating walls, doors, windows, and furniture. Neatly label your drawing, including your name and the date. (Drawing scale: 1/4 inch=1 foot)

Resources

Scouting Resources

Art, Computers, Drafting, Engineering, Landscape Architecture, Model Design and Building, Photography, and Surveying merit badge pamphlets

Architectural Design, History, and Notable Buildings

• Ancient Buildings. Bellerophon Books, 1992.
• Diamonstein, Barbaralee. Landmarks: Eighteen Wonders of the New York World. Abrams, 1992.
• Ching, Francis D. K. Architecture: Form, Space, and Order. Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1991.
• Ching, Francis D. K., and Cassandra Adams. Building Construction Illustrated. Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1991.
• Hayden, Kate. Amazing Buildings. DK Publishing, 2003.
• Isaacson, Phillip M. Round Buildings, Square Buildings , and Buildings That Wiggle Like a Fish. Knopf, 1988.
• Kostof, Spiro. A History of Architecture: Settings and Rituals. Oxford University Press, 1985.
• Macaulay, David. City: A Story of Roman Planning and Construction. Houghton Mifflin, 1974.
• --------. Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction. Houghton Mifflin, 1973.
• Nelson, Peter. Tree Houses. Mariner Books, 1994.
• Rifkind, Carole. A Field Guide to American Architecture. Bonanza Books, 1980.
• Sharp, Dennis. Twentieth Century Architecture: A Visual History. Images, 2002.
• Stewart, Gail. Living Spaces. The Rourke Book Company, 1990.
• Susanka, Sarah, and Kira Obolensky. The Not So Big House. The Taunton Press, 1998.
• Susanka, Sarah. Creating the Not So Big House. The Taunton Press, 2000.
• Wilson, Forrest. What It Feels Like to Be a Building. Preservation Press, 1988.

Biographies

• Aaseng, Nathan. More With Less: The Future World of Buckminster Fuller. Lerner, 1986.
• Dell, Pamela. I. M. Pei: Designer of Dreams. Children's Book Press, 1994.
• Heinz, Thomas A. Frank Lloyd Wright. St. Martin's Press, 1992.
• Hoag, Edwin, and Joy Hoag. Masters of Modern Architecture: Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, and Waler Gropius. Bobbs-Merrill, 1977.
• Ivey, Robert Adams. Fay Jones. American Institute of Architects Press, 1992.
• Murphy, Wendy B. Frank Lloyd Wright. Silver Burdett Press, 1990.
• Potter, Robert R. Buckminster Fuller. Silver Burdett Press, 1990.

Drawings and Models

• Biesty, Stephen, and Richard Platt. Stephen Biesty's Incredible Cross-Sections. Knopf, 1992.
• Eisen, David. Fun With Architecture. Viking Press, 1992.
• Munro, Roxie, and Diane Maddex. Architects Make Zigzags: Looking at Architecture From A to Z. John Wiley and Sons, 1986.
• Salvadori, Mario. The Art of Construction. Chicago Review Press, 1990.
• Weiss, Harvey. Model Buildings and How to Make Them. Crowell. 1979.

Organizations and Web Sites

A number of organizations have information for young people interested in architecture. You can write to any of the following for information, or you can visit their Web sites if you have access to a computer.

American Architectural Foundation
1799 New York Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20006
Telephone: 202-626-7318
Web site: http://www.archfoundation.org

The American Institute of Architects
1735 New York Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20006-5292
Telephone: 202-626-7300
Web site: http://www.aia.org

The American Institute of Architecture Students
1735 New York Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20006-5292
Telephone: 202-626-7472
Web site: http://www.aiasnatl.org

Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture
1735 New York Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20006-5292
Telephone: 202-785-2324
Web site: http://www.acsa-arch.org

Association of Licensed Architects
P.O. Box 687
Barrington, IL 60011-0687
Telephone: 847-382-0630
Web site: http://www.licensedarchitect.org

National Council of Architectural Registration Boards
1801 K Street NW, Suite 1100-K
Washington, DC 20006
Telephone: 202-783-6500
Web site: http://www.ncarb.org

National Organization of Minority Architects
c/o School of Architecture and Design
College of Engineering, Architecture and Computer Sciences
Howard University
2366 Sixth Street NW, Room 100
Washington, DC 20059
Web site: http://www.noma.net

The New York Society of Architects
299 Broadway, Suite 206
New York, NY 10007
Telephone: 212-385-8950
Web site: http://www.nysarch.com

Society of American Registered Architects
305 East 46th Street
New York, NY 10017
Toll-free telephone: 888-385-7272
Web site: http://www.sara-national.org