Arkki Workshop: Sweet Architecture
With Pihla Meskanen
Museo Würth La Rioja
Access by Espacio Educativo
3rd September – 11am / 12.30pm
Activity for children between 7 and 12 years old.
Prior registration is required on +34 941 010 410
In order to guarantee the social and safety distancing measures indicated by the health authorities, groups are very small. All participants must wear a mask and respect at all times the indications of the health authorities and the museum staff in charge of the activity.
Play is the way children explore the world and the means by which they learn naturally. To develop creativity it is very important to play and use the imagination, so this workshop will play with the audience to investigate our built environment and provide knowledge about structures in architecture in a fun way. Architecture is a spatial art form, so it is essential to study it in three dimensions and involve all the senses in the learning process. In the workshop “Sweet Architecture” participants will make structural discoveries on their own and learn by experimenting, rather than being given pre-prepared answers. During the activity, participants will understand the importance of triangular shapes in “lattice structures” and test their own model built with triangular structures.
The process of creating “Sweet Architecture” is fun and delicious: you can taste how architecture tastes… The main goal of the activity is to bring participants closer to the geometry of space and to create “architectural masterpieces” using toothpicks and sweets as building materials. The results can be very diverse: from complex structures to fairytale castles.
Arkki: creative education for future innovators
The Arkki programmes were born in Finland in 1993 and its extracurricular curriculum for children aged 4-18 was approved by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture in 2008.
Arkki develops creative educational projects using architecture and design as a point of connection of various disciplines and to foster essential innovation skills for life: a civic and cultural literacy.
It is present in 9 countries and its programmes and activities have inspired tens of thousands of children. Its work has been recognised internationally on multiple occasions: it was selected as a finalist for the WISE 2020 awards, won one of the UNICEF CFCI2019 Inspire awards and was part of the HundrED 2020 and 2021 global collections. In 2021, Arkki was featured in the LEGO Foundation’s Spotlight on Creativity report as one of the 20 leading entities promoting creativity in education.
Pihla Meskanen
Pihla Meskanen (1970) is an architect and educator, co-founder of Arkki and CEO of Arkki International. Meskanen believes that creative education through architecture provides children with new skills, means and tools to influence the sustainable creation of our future environment, no matter what their occupation.
Meskanen has written several books and academic articles, and has participated in the drafting of the Finnish National Curriculum for Visual Arts and Architecture. He was awarded the honour of Knight First Class of the Order of the Lion of Finland by the President in 2018 for his work in the field of creative education. Meskanen has also received the Asko-Avonius Prize, the Pietilä State Prize for children’s culture and was elected Art Educator of the Year in 2013.