Building Arts in Riverwalk, Kiley Park

Last week, St. Petersburg College students in the Building Arts’ Architectural Structures and Architectural Theory classes traveled to downtown Tampa. The goal: to observe several new and existing buildings. Our tour included Curtis Hixon Park, the Tampa Museum of Art, Rivergate Tower and the newly evolving Tampa Riverwalk. 

Thinking outside the box – or building

One of the main goals in early architecture education is to remove preconceived ideas of what buildings should look like based upon personal experience. To that end, students got outside and began to think about the built environment through the filter of their newly-learned information.

Architecture courses are intended to teach students to see things in a different way and to frame the problem at hand in unprecedented ways, ultimately resolving those problems with innovative solutions.  As such, the problems assigned in the studio environment can seem unusual and initially difficult to relate to the design of buildings. Once students are able to make the connection to real world application, the lessons are cemented.

Alumni Architects

We were also fortunate enough to tour the offices of Rowe Architects and David Connor & Associates Landscape Architects, to observe a working architectural studio courtesy of SPC  & USF alumnus Joshua Frank, an Urban Designer at David Conner & Associates. The tour was an invaluable way to understand how the theoretical concepts learned in the classroom are applied in the built environment. It blended nicely with the architecture firm tour to show our students the professional team at work and how the design for these buildings evolves and develops. 

We are incredibly proud that the two-year St. Petersburg College Architecture A.A. degree transfer program has a long legacy of more than 30 years. Graduates complete their education at universities across the country and practice in firms around the world.

We are fortunate to know our alumni, because they maintain connections with us here at SPC, and are always a phone call away. These former students stand ready to pass the torch, assisting our current students with issues related to transferring to university, graduating, course selection, professional internship and employment.