UVU architecture students help California wildfire victims with plans to rebuild

SALT LAKE CITY — Nearly two dozen students from the architecture program at Utah Valley University are helping those who lost their homes in the California wildfires.

Program coordinator for UVU’s architecture department, Paul Monson, says after they heard about the tens of thousands of homes burned in Los Angeles County, they decided to pivot away from their normal curriculum and previously planned student projects. Instead, they decided to spend their spring break on a project that could help fire victims recreate their homes that were lost.

The students loaded up into vans and drove to the community of Altadena, California. Altadena was hit hard by the Eaton Fire, which killed 17 people and destroyed nearly 10,000 structures.

The students are now assigned with the task of recreating the homes of 33 families using photos, interviews with the families, and measurements from the burn sites.

“The final deliverable that the students have to these families is going to be a set of drawings of their house: floor plans, the exterior elevation, and a 3D digital model of the house,” Monson said.

Monson says those families will then be able to give those plans to an architect so they can rebuild, add to their original house designs, or simply have a historical record of what was lost. Having those plans could help families with the costs associated with paying an architect for home designs, because the bulk of the work is already done.

In addition to helping the fire victims, the trip also proved to be beneficial and inspiring for the students.

“Your house is a very personal thing and it means a lot more than designs and drawings on paper,” Monson explained. “So I think it really had a big impact on their approach to design.”

The students were given training prior to the trip so they could navigate the grief and pain they would face when talking to the families. While those emotions were present, Monson says they also encountered a spirit of hope, community, and resilience in Altadena.

Monson says this is not the first time they decided to put their skills to use outside the classroom. The program has brought students on other local, national, and international trips in the past to put the skills they are learning to practical use.

The students had to raise money to be able to go on the trip. They are currently open to donations if you want to help financially support their projects.

Heather Peterson is a reporter and producer for KSL NewsRadio. She also produces Utah’s Noon News.