Urban Dialogues | Architecture Education Empowering Kids • Pihla Meskanen

As part of our Urban Dialogues series, we welcome Pihla Meskanen, architect, pedagogue, and CEO of Arkki International. This lecture will explore how architecture education empowers children to become active contributors to sustainable futures. By fostering creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration through hands-on design projects, this approach equips children with essential future skills, enabling them to envision and contribute to resilient, inclusive, and innovative communities. The event will take place at İskele on Wednesday, February 12th at 19.00.

The event will be held in English.
Etkinlik İngilizce olarak gerçekleşecektir.

Pihla Meskanen is an architect (M.Sc.), pedagogue (B.A.), entrepreneur, innovator, author, and lecturer. She co-founded the Arkki School of Architecture for Children and Youth in Finland in 1993, serving as headmaster for 25 years. In 2013, she established Arkki International, where she currently serves as CEO, overseeing the global licensing of Arkki’s programs. Arkki’s award-winning after-school program operates in 10+ countries, providing creative education through architecture and design. The curriculum uses these disciplines as holistic, real-world phenomena to teach creative thinking and innovation while fostering cultural and civic literacy among children and youth. Meskanen sees architecture as a cornerstone of STEAM education, integrating not only science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics, but also humanities and social sciences to provide a holistic learning experience. She has founded educational programs, developed international networks, designed innovative events and teaching materials, and remains an active advocate for integrating architecture into elementary school curricula globally. An accomplished author, Meskanen has written several books both for teachers as well as families and kids, and contributed as an expert in drafting Finland’s National Core Curriculum for Visual Arts and Architecture under the National Board of Education. She is a founding member and current chair of PLAYCE, an international association for architecture education.