Skip to main content

Design. Fabricate. Build. 

SummerFAB, is a four-week, commuter summer program that exposes high school students to the built environment through interdisciplinary project-based learning practices. Participants collaborate with Wentworth faculty and current architecture students to research, design, fabricate, and construct a full-scale, community-driven solution to local neighborhood challenges. Additionally, participants are provided the opportunity to develop a network of peers across the Boston area. Learn more about our offering below. 

Request Info

Program At-a-Glance

Audience: SummerFAB is designed exclusively for rising juniors and seniors in high school that are Boston residents or attendees of Boston Public Schools. 

When: July 6 - August 1, 2025 

Program Type: Commuter/Day Program

 

 

SummerFAB Students working on project

Learn More About SummerFAB

SummerFab students learning and drawing.

LEARN

Phase One: LEARN. 

These modules will allow participants to learn skills that will prepare them for success throughout the four weeks. From exploration through drawing, construction safety, financial literacy, and much more, participants will explore and build foundational skills in design, construction, and life.

SummerFAB students observing architecture

OBSERVE

Phase Two: OBSERVE. 

These modules will initiate an investigation of site and public space. Together we will explore and observe communal and publicly activated spaces around Boston and around Wentworth’s campus. Throughout the first week, we will discuss the connections between thinking and making and learn basic and essential visualization and representation skills to communicate our ideas and observations.

SummerFAB Model

ANALYZE

Phase Three: ANALYZE. 

These modules will introduce methods of design inquiry and visual expression. Having examined our urban setting in Boston, we will learn how to analyze the built environment through quantitative and qualitative terms. Participants will become acquainted with scale and proportion through drawing and model making, all the while learning valuable representation skills to express design inquiries throughout phase exercises. This phase will end with the selection of three-dimensional architectural prototypes that will serve as the base design for the full-scale build project.

SummerFAB students working on build project

BUILD

Phase Four: BUILD. 

This phase culminates in translating design thinking into built form, resulting in a full-scale temporary site-specific construction. Working together with the fabrication coordinator, participants learn the skills involved with the production and realization of a design idea into built form. This phase concludes with final installation of the built work on site, either temporary or permanent, and a celebration with faculty, friends, and community partners.

Interested in SummerFAB?

Interested in participating in SummerFAB? Join our mailing list today to learn more about the program. More information including how to apply for Summer 2025 will be available in late December. 

Students posing after completing SummerFAB 2017's pavilion.