SoCA’s “VABErs” welcomed over 100 area high school students last Friday for a tour of the new School of Creative Arts buildings and a team design and construction project.

Architect and VABE Coordinator Jason Grossi along with VABE students Cassie Vojvodin, Mona Makki and Max Pecoraro lead the design/build competition. The goal was to build a structure using the variable sized wooden Jenga pieces. This activity provided students hands-on experience working with the concepts that Visual Arts and the Built Environment (VABE) students study.

“Students took this activity very seriously but with joy and understood the objective of creating space in addition to attaining height,” said Grossi. “Not surprisingly, all enjoyed the seismic test and each group had to identify the hinge failure mechanism.  This provided an opportunity to explained what a ‘soft story’ was.”