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Architectural Reliefs

Students combine art and math to design and construct their own miniature buildings.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Paper
  • Recycled Cardboard
  • Ruler
  • Tape

Steps

  • Step 1

    Introduce the class to various architects and architectural styles from around the world. Show examples of buildings that represent different styles, such as Frank Gehry's Dancing House (Deconstructivist), Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water (Modernist), and Eero Saarinen's Gateway Arch (International).

  • Step 2

    Have students explain how 2-D shapes (triangle, square, rectangle, circle, ellipse) relate to their 3-D counterparts (rectangular prism, triangular prism, rectangular pyramid, triangular pyramid, cube, cylinder, sphere). Ask them to cite famous examples of these shapes in architecture, such as Buckminster Fuller's use of the geodesic dome in the Montreal Biosphere, or I.M. Pei's Louvre Pyramid.

  • Step 3

    Have students sketch a design of a building they'd like to build. Ask them to cut the shapes they'll need out of recycled boxes and then create the 3-D forms. Challenge them to calculate the volume of the forms they created. You can provide the equations or guide them to an online site such as onlinemath4all.com or thirdspacelearning.com which will take them through the calculations.

  • Step 4

    The students will assemble their shapes into a building and adorn it with design details. They may use scraps of cut boxes for windows, doors, and other embellishments. Then they'll place the building on a cardboard backdrop and color the structure's environment.

  • Step 5

    Have them present their creations and talk about what inspired them to build this particular structure and what architectural style they used.

Standards

MATH: Apply mathematical operations to solve real-world problems.

MATH: Include knowledge of mathematics habits of mind and operations in writing, speaking, and artifact/model production.

MATH: Use mathematics and computational thinking to analyze and create visual relationships and measurements in illustrations.

ARTS: Analyze how the arts reflect changing times, traditions, resources, and cultural uses.

ARTS: Create art using various materials and tools to explore personal interests/experiences, questions, problem finding, curiosity, and problem solving.

Adaptations

Students choose a famous architectural work to research and write about.

Students can look up the actual dimensions of a structure - perhaps their house, school, or a building in their community - and see if they can determine its volume.

Plan an architecture walking tour or field trip beyond your neighborhood and have students act as docents to describe the buildings' features and styles.