Design camps galore! Numerous organizations are hosting architecture, engineering, construction, and design camps across Oregon this summer, and we want you to know about them! Check out our 2026 Summer Camp Catalog to find opportunities to explore design this summer.
Registration deadlines are approaching. Don’t wait – get signed up today!
Thank you to @engineeringforkidspdx@pam_cut@omsi@girlsbuild_org@saturdayacademy@nomapdx@constructinghopepdx@girlsincpnw and @uoarchenv for providing these wonderful opportunities.
Offering a design camp for Oregon youth this summer? Comment below!
Link in bio.
Enjoy a Saturday exploring wood and forests!
First stop is a special tour of the Oregon State Forester’s building, an underappreciated historical architectural gem in Salem that is not open to the public. Designed by Linn A. Forrest and built in 1938 by the Works Progress Administration and The Civilian Conservation Corps, the building is a tour de force of local Oregon wood, featuring 18 different native wood species in a myriad of carvings and millwork applications on the floors, walls and ceilings. Mr. Forrest is also known for his work as the US Forest Service Architect who designed the beloved Timberline Lodge.
Second stop is at Zena Forest, a short drive away in Rickreall. Enjoy lunch before you experience regenerative forestry in action at Zena Forest Products—the only company in Oregon that integrates every aspect of the timber process, from sustainable forest management to crafting heirloom flooring in the mill and EdgeGrain facility. Nestled in the Eola Hills, this Forest Stewardship Council® certified property is protected by a conservation easement and spans 1,300 acres, making it the largest contiguous block of forest in the Willamette Valley. On the tour, you’ll walk through the forest and witness how the Deumling family balances natural growth with responsible harvesting to maintain the forest’s health amid the realities of climate change. Next, you’ll get to tour the mill, learning how each tree journeys from log, to lumber, to Zena flooring, which made a splash on the floors of the PDX renovation.
The afternoon will end with wine and cheese.
Hosted by @zenaforestproducts .
Saturday, June 13
10:30am-2:30pm
1st Stop: State Forester’s Office, Salem
2nd Stop: Zena Forest, Rickreall
Link in bio.
Our summer Dine & Design event series is a fundraiser benefitting AFO programming, including Architects in Schools and AFO Scholarships.
Get ready for our second annual Creative Spark, an Architects in Schools celebration and design competition on Thursday, May 28!
To showcase the elements and impact of design as Architects in Schools students experience, a design competition will take place for guests to peruse and judge. Each year a new theme and design challenge is presented to teams of AEC professionals. Together, they create a model feature and compete for awards designated by a panel of Architects in Schools elementary school student judges.
We invite you to join us for a lively evening to celebrate our flagship Architects in Schools program and spark creativity among intergenerational designers!
Thursday, May 28
5:30-8:00pm
@dlr_group
Link in bio.
MAY AFO HAPPENINGS
It’s a month of Architects in Schools celebrations! Join us at a Student Exhibition across the state, and join us at our annual Architects in Schools fundraiser and design competition, Creative Spark.
Link in bio.
Help us run a full day of Architects in Schools exhibits and activities @omsi ! Sign up for a two-hour shift to help with check-in, exhibit management, or a geodesic dome activity table.
Exhibits are a chance for AiS students to take ownership of their work and show their projects to friends and family. Needless to say, the exhibits are a really important part of our program. Please consider lending a hand!
Saturday, May 16
Shifts available between 11am-5pm
Free OMSI admission included
Link in bio.
Exhibit season begins this week! Come witness the JOY of our Architects in Schools student designers as they display the hard work they accomplished during their residencies this school year.
All exhibits are open to the public, kid-friendly, and free (with the exception of OMSI which requires museum admission). No need to register in advance. Simply show up and join the celebration!
May 1 - @towertheatrebend
May 7 - @bric_arch@dlr_group
May 16 - @omsi
May 21 - @opsis.architecture
May 30 - @the_gordon_house
June 6 - @euglibrary
Link in bio.
Special thanks to DLR Group for capturing the fun at our 2025 exhibit!
Registration is live! Join us online June 22-26 for our Architects in Schools Summer Camp! The virtual camp is designed for youth ages 8-12.
This year’s camp theme is Small Changes = BIG IMPACT, Designing Sustainable and Resilient Communities. What are small things that you can do in your community to make it more sustainable and resilient? Let’s explore together! Camp participants will learn about ways they can use design to support some of our smallest community members – birds and bugs! Students will be introduced to technical architecture practices such as drawing, planning, model making, and more. By implementing the design process, they will make small changes in their community that create a BIG impact!
Register by June 12 to participate. Oregon residents can request a supply box through June 5.
Link in bio.
NAMC-Oregon is proud to celebrate the Architecture Foundation of Oregon 2026 Hermann Colas Jr. Scholarship awardees, Jesus Moreno Rangel of Oregon State University and David Castro-Andrade of Portland State University.
These outstanding students represent the future of our industry and the strength of our communities. Both Jesus and David have demonstrated a strong commitment to pursuing careers in construction, with a clear vision for using their skills to create opportunity, expand access, and drive meaningful change.
Their dedication, passion, and purpose reflect exactly what this scholarship was created to support. We are excited to see how they continue to grow, lead, and make an impact in the built environment.
We also extend our sincere appreciation to Colas Construction for their contributions to the selection process and for their financial support of the second scholarship. Investments like these are essential to growing and expanding access to this opportunity, ensuring that more emerging leaders are supported as they step into the construction industry.
Congratulations, Jesus and David. Your journey is just beginning, and we are proud to be part of it.
To learn more about the scholars, visit:
/scholarships/#meet-our-scholars
@aforegon
Come celebrate the hard work of our 2025-26 Architects in Schools students across Oregon! These are our culminating events of the season where participating students exhibit the work they completed during their Architects in Schools residencies.
All exhibits are open to the public, kid-friendly, and free (with the exception of OMSI which requires museum admission). No need to register in advance. Simply show up and join the celebration!
This Architects in Schools season was another huge success, reaching thousands of students across the state of Oregon. Over 150 design and building professionals have spent over 3,000 volunteer hours in classrooms this year, educating students on the built environment and the process of designing and building communities.
Huge thank you to our exhibit venues and hosts:
@towertheatrebend@bric_arch@dlr_group@omsi@opsis.architecture@the_gordon_house@euglibrary
Link in bio.
Want to have a fantastic time creating a model while also supporting Architects in Schools, a great program that brings design education to Oregon children?
Pull a team of up to five colleagues together and spend a fun evening designing and building a model just like our Architects in Schools students do! This lighthearted competition will be judged by our smallest designers: Architects in Schools elementary students.
The competition is two-fold: part design, part fundraiser for our flagship Architects in Schools Program. Attend our virtual Info Session to find out how you can participate in this year’s Creative Spark Design Competition.
Monday, April 21
5-6pm
Virtual
Link in bio.
We are so pleased to announce Vailey Oehlke as our 2026 Honored Citizen!
As the Portland Metropolitan region celebrates the completion of the last three library projects in the 2020 library bond, it is time to tip our hats to Vailey Oehlke, the leader whose vision and tenacity ensured that our libraries were shaped by innovative thinking, inclusive processes, and community-centric and sustainable design.
Vailey Oehlke was the transformative Executive Director of @multnomahcountylibrary from 2009-2024. As the oldest public library on the west coast, Central Library and eighteen other neighborhood libraries are the second busiest library system among its peers in the country. In 2024, visits to all the libraries exceeded two million patrons. For fifteen years, Vailey was totally committed to ensuring Multnomah County Library remained valued, relevant, and responsive to the community.
Learn more about Vailey through the link in our bio and save the date for October 8 for a special event to celebrate her contributions to Oregon’s designed environment!
Meet this year’s AFO Scholars!
Our six $5,000-10,000 specialized scholarships support higher education students who are historically underrepresented in design and building fields. Through our annual awards, we give financial support and mentorship to students pursuing a career in architecture, interior design, engineering, construction, art, and design.
Join us at Building Pathways on April 16, 5:30-7:30pm @design.portland to explore a showcase of innovative student projects created by our Scholars and Formation Mentees, and connect with the next generation of talented designers and builders.
Link in bio.
