When I was eight years old I knew I would be a writer one day. I just did. Sure, as I got older I thought, well maybe I will be a teacher or maybe I will go to law school…but something always pulled me back. Whether it was a newspaper or magazine or press releases, I knew I would write. What about kids today? Do you think the kids who say “Oh, I want to be (let’s just say) and architect,” will one day grow up to be one?

It’s not often you see a bunch of kids taking to the halls of a trade show, such as the American Institute of Architects (AIA) National Convention. But yesterday they were on the show floor, mainly in the YKK AP booth for the debut of the latest in the “I Am An Architect” video series, which is a prequel to what we’ve seen before. It shows the video’s architects when they were small … envisioning how they knew even when they were 2 years old, that they’d grow up to be architects.

Oliver Stepe with YKK AP (far right) was joined by the cast of the “I Am An Architect” video series, as well as some future architects at the show.

In developing the video, YKK worked with the AIA Atlanta chapter’s Discover Architecture program, which teaches kids about architecture without a typical classroom environment. The kids take on projects, creating and designing their own buildings with common household items, such as shoe boxes and egg cartons.

And many of those kids were invited to the show, where they were treated to the video premiere, as well as a copy of the “Discover Architecture” book

Seeing the kids at the show was fun—fun to see their energy and excitement. Will they all grow up to be architects? Maybe. But until then, let’s all continue to find ways to encourage that creativity and learning in children. Their ideas today could be our buildings in the future.