The Column

Our team of student journalist just published the print edition of Volume 3, Issue 3 of The Column. You can read The Column here or download it as a PDF. If the document takes too long to load on your device, please select “open in new tab”. … [Read more...]

In the second installment of their 2020-2021 educational program, architecture firm and WHSAD partner, GENSLER, held a workshop entitled “A day in the Life of A Designer”. Students were introduced to team roles in interior design, architecture, and design strategy. Many thanks to our guest speakers, Arielle Levy, Chasen VanLang and Lis Russo. Below is the full presentation along with some student takeaways from the program. Every time I see the bright red logo or just hear the name GENSLER, I think of opportunities, offers, a future, and a great work environment in which someone like me, a young future architect, would love to work. I am inspired by each one of their works. Taking inspiration from one of my favorite Gensler … [Read more...]

Families are invited to join us every Tuesday & Thursday at 5:15 PM to learn more about the educational technology used to support student learning at WHSAD! Topics include how to navigate Google Class/Google Meet and how to stay active during the pandemic. CLICK HERE to view the calendar of topics. CLICK HERE to sign up. See the flyer below for more details: … [Read more...]

My Sister's Keeper is a program whose primary objective is to teach young women self-empowerment and learn skills for life. Mentoring relationships are provided within MSK as well as other activities. These activities help women in the program build communication skills, especially those who may struggle with self-esteem and confidence. MSK wants women to rise above their struggles and chase their dreams, while disregarding stereotypical comments. My Sister's Keeper calls on young women to be themselves and speak their minds freely. On January 7th, 2020, My Sister's Keeper held a meeting with their students. In this meeting, Ms. Amanda, one of MSK’s instructors, talked to the students about stepping outside their comfort zones. To … [Read more...]

Building is complicated, but building in New York City can be a herculean task. Navigating the process of designing, implementing, and getting approval from the powers that be requires energy, patience, and intelligence. Numerous individuals in various roles take part in said process, one role that is crucial for ensuring that architects, engineers, and contractors follow legal precedents is that of the lawyer. On Wednesday, January 27th, Stefanie Marazzi, partner at Hirschen Singer & Epstein LLP, shared her extensive knowledge of New York City zoning laws. Students learned about topics such as building envelopes, zoning codes, the process of rezoning and acquiring permits, and historical zoning cases. These presentations give WHSAD … [Read more...]

This Friday, WHSAD Makerspace students heard from Justin Mora about his studies at City Tech, his work at A-1 Iron Works, and how a WHSAD education helped him transition to college more easily. Each Friday, we welcome our alumni to speak to our students about college and career experiences, opportunities, and objectives, and the value of these presentations cannot be overstated. Below is Justin's presentation as well as takeaways from some current WHSAD students. Justin's presentation was very eye opening. He was very helpful and really taught me that I should really take advantage of the things WHSAD offers. Also, he gave tips on how to balance school work and actual work, which can personally help me because that's something that … [Read more...]

It's been awhile since these WHSAD alumni have been at WHSAD, but many have lots of positive things to say about their experiences in high school and how WHSAD helped them in college. Vincente Gomez-Class of 2018 What does a typical week/day look like for you? "I am a senior at Pace University, studying computer science with a minor in criminal justice and cyber security. When the semester is going on typically from September to December or from the end of January to May, aside from classes, I have a student assistant job, but we are in a mid-winter recess so I’m off. What a student assistant job entails is we have an email system set up where the students send centralized emails asking for appointments with their advisor so I … [Read more...]

Places for collaboration, community outreach and development, and inspiration are more important than ever. For what will be a year this coming March, the world has been wracked by the effects of a pandemic no one saw coming, and thus, one for which none of us were prepared. However, one could say the pandemic showed us quite a bit about what humans are capable of when it comes to supporting one another, and the work done at the Bushwick Generator is a perfect example of humans helping one another through trying times.  In this Wednesday’s WHSAD Makerspace session, students heard inspirational narratives from community leaders as to the work done before, during, and will continue after Covid-19. Jay Solly,  Cofounder of Sustainable … [Read more...]

Matthias Hollwich is a German-born architect who lives in New York and is the creator of the thought perspective “New Aging”. New Aging focuses on how people determine what ‘old’ means and looks like, and how being old is represented and needs to change. The passing of his grandmother transformed him “into an unlikely, passionate advocate of architecture and planning for the aging” and inspired him for New Aging, which Hollwich has written a book about. At 48 years old, he has conducted workshops on this project at the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation in Germany, and the University of Pennsylvania (where he works on occasion) and is the co-founder of the architectural social networking site Architizer. Matthias Hollwich’s book “New Aging” has … [Read more...]

Ms. Moos and Mr. O'Brien had a very interesting project for their junior students in the Building and Design class. Students were asked to use their creativity and imagination to make a stop motion animation movie. A few students in the junior class, as well as the teachers, were interviewed about their thoughts and experience with the whole thing. Read below to see the interviews. Ms. Moos What do you hope students will gain from this experience? "I think it would be an understanding of how much it takes to create moving images. I think that we are constantly consuming videos, moving images and it's hard to actually wrap our mind around what it takes to create something like this. So, I hope that students develop an idea of what … [Read more...]