Project Pipeline
NOMA’s national youth initiative — introducing the next generation to architecture and design, and something NOMA Cleveland is working to bring home to Northeast Ohio.
Our Mission
Project Pipeline exists to help young people see themselves as changemakers through design. By putting students directly in touch with practicing architects and planners and using their own city as a classroom, the program builds a pathway toward design careers, civic leadership, and a stronger commitment to diversity and equity in the profession.
A National Program with Deep Roots
Project Pipeline began as an idea at a NOMA national conference in the early 2000s, when chapter leaders set out to build a pathway for minority students — with a particular focus on Black students — into the architecture profession. The first camp launched in Cincinnati in 2006, and a formalized national curriculum followed a few years later. Since then, chapters across dozens of cities nationwide have run their own local camps, reaching thousands of students.
How It Works
Students move through the design process the way working architects do: investigating a real issue in their community through drawing and model-building, researching and diagramming their findings, and engaging directly with the people affected through interviews and site visits. Each program builds toward a final presentation where students share a fully developed project addressing a real challenge in their city — often their first hands-on introduction to the design world.
Project Pipeline in Cleveland
NOMA Cleveland is exploring how to bring Project Pipeline to Northeast Ohio students. We’re looking for members interested in helping design the curriculum, mentor students, connect us with schools and community partners, or simply learn more about what launching a local camp would take.
Interested in helping build this program in Cleveland? We’d love to hear from you — whether you’re an architect, educator, student, or community partner.
