The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC)'s Early College Program Summer Institute (ECPSI) brings an extraordinary array of students from all over the world to create portfolio-quality work, make connections with our world-renowned faculty, experience SAIC’s amazing facilities, and earn college credit. Through ECPSI, you will be empowered to bring your ideas to life, whatever form that may take. You will have the freedom to work in multiple media: you can incorporate text into paintings, combine performance and sculpture, or cross boundaries from sound to architecture. In our one-, two-, and four-week sessions, you'll follow a college-level curriculum with day-long studio courses, critiques, workshops, and a final exhibition. This course explores contemporary thinking and making within architecture and its impact on public life. Students will develop skills in hand drawing, digital modeling, as well as physical modeling in 3D. Through collaborative work and one-on-one mentorship, students learn how architects develop design ideas, do research and represent proposals. Conceptual thinking is emphasized as students work to envision new approaches to the built environment through multiple design approaches. An active studio practice will feature drawing and hand-built models of proposed spaces, buildings, sculptures and/or future environments. In addition, students examine the works of artists, architects and writers for inspiration.