I think it’s amazing because they are getting the feel of actually designing a house plan, and it’s the plan that the contractor is going to use to be able to build the house for the family.
HARLINGEN — Robert Barcenas and his family were enjoying a meal in the comfort of their fine brick home.
It was family time without a leaky roof or lopsided floors, nothing like their previous accommodations which didn’t even have central air conditioning to keep out the caustic heat of the summer months.
The new porch on which he stood for a few minutes didn’t have the lead either that had created such annoyances at his other home. He bore now the demeanor of relief and satisfaction.
“It’s actually very very nice,” said Barcenas, 54. “It feels comfortable and roomy, and it was very well planned out.”
The plans of the house originated from the creativity of young architecture students in Emiliano Amaro’s class at Harlingen High School.
Those students spent long hours, days, weeks and months channeling their fresh creative powers into tangible designs. The major tool of their creation was the AutoCAD program.
“I think it’s amazing because they are getting the feel of actually designing a house plan, and it’s the plan that the contractor is going to use to be able to build the house for the family,” Amaro said.
Ribbon cutting ceremonies at both homes took place March 20 with students, city leaders and educators celebrating the completion of the two projects.
“This is definitely a phenomenal program,” said Mayor Norma Sepulveda later in the week.
“It’s a great community effort that incorporates HCISD Academy students,” she said. “Unfortunately, the students who designed the homes weren’t there, but it gave those who were there an opportunity to see the exciting work happening in our community.”
The students who designed the homes couldn’t attend the ceremonies because they’ve already graduated from high school. They’ve moved into their adult lives with fine experiences already in hand.
However, Kyler De Leon, now an architecture major at Texas A&M University – College Station, shared his thoughts on the process of completion.
Curiously, he and his classmates worked on a number of projects, and he doesn’t know which of them became a house for a low-income family.
“I know we worked on it,” said Kyler, 19. “Mr. Amaro would basically give us what we needed to do. He’d give us fixed dimensions for the walls and how he wanted the façade to look and the walls to look, and basically we just followed the instructions.”
Kyler especially appreciated Amaro letting him and his fellow architects take over the project by themselves.
“Basically, he put it on us to work with it, which was ultimately a good thing because it really helped us,” he said. “It was all just working together and working collaboratively as a class talking it out and seeing what was the best design and what was the best approach to the design so it would work.”
Kyler has an intriguing story about his journey into architecture. His high school counselor put him in Amaro’s class during his sophomore year because he needed an elective. Any elective would serve its purpose for graduation, but it took him further than he ever expected.
“I just fell in love with the way Mr. Amaro taught,” Kyler said. “I fell in love with the creativity that it gave you and how you could approach your own way of thinking and put it into a design.”
I enjoyed seeing the smiles on those families’ faces. Designing of a home, it’s art basically.
Several students shared a similar story.
“I just got thrown in it, and I fell in love with it,” said Tyler Casarez, 15, a sophomore.
He’s already moved into the more advanced levels of residential planning. What he’s most enjoyed, however, is what he saw at the ribbon cutting earlier this week.
“I enjoyed seeing the smiles on those families’ faces,” he said. “Designing of a home, it’s art basically.”
He sat now in front of a computer and pulled up the AutoCAD program. Soon his projects appeared, blocks, structures and measurements floating and turning on the screen.
“At first I was just wanting to try it out,” he said. “I didn’t know if I was going to like it, but you never know something until you try it.”
Kyler had no previous interest in architecture.
“I’m so glad I got put into that class because now I’m a first year architecture major at Texas A&M University in College Station,” he said.
He looks forward now to a promising career designing eco-friendly commercial structures.
