Join us for the first-ever Architecture + the City Youth Festival at the Center for Architecture and Design (CA+D)—a free, family-friendly event designed to spark creativity and curiosity in young people of all ages, from elementary through high school.
Hosted in collaboration with California College of the Arts (CCA) and the Architecture Foundation of San Francisco (AFSF), this hands-on celebration of architecture, design, and the built environment features workshops, demos, and making activities led by CCA faculty, students, and community partners.
Try your hand at building a model city with AFSF. Learn model-building, jewelry making, comics, and crafts—plus join a cultural sustainability workshop led by InCommon, where students will explore what it means to be a citizen designer and imagine how San Francisco can grow while preserving its cultural roots.
There will be snack and drink stations throughout the space, but we recommend packing a lunch if you plan on staying all day!
Most of these events are appropriate for ages 11+
As with all our youth programs, this event is free. Be sure to register to secure your spot!
Agenda:
All Day Activities:
Drop in any time to take part in any of these activities!
SCREEN PRINTING
Create your own prints and take them home! Some plain shirts and other fabrics will be provided, but you are encouraged to bring in a favorite item to personalize!
METAL STAMPING
Experiment with filing, texturing, stamping, and polishing in a hands-on jewelry making activity. Create necklaces and keychains you can take home!
TEXTILE DISPLAY + LOOM
Discover weaving and textile design through an interactive loom display.
BUILD A CITY
This hands-on exercise explores the dynamics of urban design and development through collaborative model-making. Participants
Work together on a giant city grid mapped out on the floor, where blue tape marks the streets and open spaces are ready for your ideas. Using cardboard, paper, wood, and found objects, you’ll design and build your own part of the city—whether it’s a house, a playground, a bridge, or something brand new.
Your project doesn’t stand alone. Just like in the real world, every building and space connects to others. You’ll learn how your design can shape, support, and inspire what’s around it. Instead of tearing things down, you’ll add on, adjust, and reimagine—because cities are always growing and changing.
City Rules:
- Build only inside the grid (the taped-off streets must stay open, but you can build across them).
- Respect everyone’s work: no demolishing—only collaborating and transforming.
Work on the city as long as you’d like—ten minutes or a few hours. By the end, you’ll see how every voice and every idea helps create a city that’s stronger, more interesting, and more connected because of everyone who contributed.
Timed Workshops:
READY FOR THE FUTURE WORKSHOP
1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Reinvention requires a unique set of skills to navigate change, while keeping what is meaningful. You are invited to take part in Ready for the future, a program to cultivate long-term thinking and effective public discourse skills.
At this event you’ll have the opportunity to review the feedback from our community survey, identify priorities and gaps, and apply your lived experience to help us shape future-ready perspectives. You will be supported by facilitators who will introduce you to traditional and digital participation tools and concepts.
If you are under 24 years old and have a phone this event is for you. Join us and enjoy free programs and snacks!
Please reserve a spot when you RSVP for the Youth Festival! Walk-ins always welcome!
How often do you think about your ability to see? We often take our vision for granted, even though it plays a key role in our lives. This guided workshop will use tactile shapes, textures, and letters as well as vision simulator glasses to help you learn how designers create better experiences for those with impaired or low vision.
ARCHITECTURE MODEL WORKSHOP – FROM SHAPES TO CITIES!
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM: Under 15 Session
2:30 PM – 4:00 PM: Over 15 Session
Explore how abstract shapes can evolve into architectural spaces through model-making. Start with a swirl, a zigzag, or a blocky blob—shapes that twist, stretch, fold, or float. Using paper, cardboard, and found treasures, bring these shapes to life and see how they can grow into architectural spaces. Use your creations to add to the ‘Build a City’ activity and connect with others to form your own world—or take your one-of-a-kind structure home to keep imagining! No sign up required!