New York study trip NY-LON opens young minds to their potential in architecture

This week has been a particularly exciting week for us at HomeGrown Plus as we are launching our call for applications for NY-LON 23.

HomeGrown Plus (HG+) is a not-for-profit organisation founded by Neil Pinder, recipient of last year’s AJ Contribution to the Profession Award. It is probably best known for its many initiatives introducing secondary school students from the global majority to architecture, but we also mentor university students and micro-SMEs on their journey as well.

Last year’s NY-LON was a dry run of things to come, a sort of ‘test’ which we passed with flying colours. We developed NY-LON in response to the high rate of attrition for non-traditional students within architecture. We’ve chosen to focus on Part 1 students as a way to reignite their passion for the built environment and to reinforce the fact that their voices matter.

We see NY-LON less as a ‘reward’ for doing well, and more of way to reach those students who possess a mix of confidence but also a sense of self-doubt about continuing in their studies. It’s a way to help ensure that talent within the global majority does not go by the wayside.

Organising to take 10 students aged 21 and over out of the country for nine days is no easy task, so why do we do it?

Because we feel that travel is critical in the development of an architect. It has always been, always will be. We also feel that students from the global majority need to adjust to a series of ‘codes’: the lingo code; the ‘how to do the right drawing’ code; the how to make an architectural reference code; and so on.

Throughout the ages, travel has been an ideal leveller, a chance for one to see, observe, and learn from different cultures and environments. In this context, it has also been an excluder in that those who cannot afford to travel miss these experiences.

Travel does not immediately reflect privilege; in many ways it doesn’t. But in some cases, it can.

Like many, I cherish my stints of solo European travel, hopping from hostel to hostel and spending my days searching for buildings to draw. I know travel made me a better person, and a more thoughtful architect.

NY-LON is not a nostalgic throwback to Eurorail travel and flea-infested hostels; it’s a response to a post-Covid need to get out and share experiences with other students led by professionals in the field. It’s a network-building, life-changing programme that permits the student to investigate the environment around them and collect life experiences which they can use on their journey to becoming an architect.

Improving representation within the built environment requires many things but travel and confidence-building are vital elements.  Fundamental to our travel program is creating a sense of longevity and adaptability.

NY-LON aspires to grow in the years to come, incorporating more students, bonding with schools in addition to the New York City’s Pratt Institute and establishing a London leg where New York and London students explore the UK capital’s rich cultural environments.

In time we’d like to link up with the Continent, too, and explore European cities by rail. But to do so we need your help to reach our crowdfunding goal.

NY-LON 23 runs from July 15-24. The deadline for applications is April 21.

Dennis Austin is managing director of HomeGrown Plus and co-founder of Daab Design Architects