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Cecilia Percy ’27 has long been passionate about the field of architecture. But she turned down an admission offer for an architecture program at a top tier university to attend St. Olaf College. 

“I’m really glad I came here because I love everything I’m doing,” she says. “I love the liberal arts experience that I get to have.”

Plus, it hasn’t meant giving up on her interest in architecture. The Architectural Design course at St. Olaf gave Percy the opportunity to explore what it could look like as a career, while developing practical design skills. 

During the first week of the course, students work on skills and skill building, from drawing and diagramming to the fundamentals of computer modeling. After that they complete two design projects — one individually and one as a group. Presenting their work to visiting architects and learning from visiting professors, the students get real feedback and insight into the professional and pre-professional aspects of the career field. 

Architect Christopher Strom ’95 teaches the course as a visiting professor. He was in a similar position as Percy when he first came to study on the Hill, and his St. Olaf education ended up being the perfect foundation for graduate school and a professional career. 

“What I confirmed for myself,” he says, “is that the liberal arts is really the best preparation for an all-encompassing and broad career like architecture. I’m really glad I had that background, and it’s still paying dividends for me personally and professionally.”

After graduation, Strom earned a Master of Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley. Today he is the principal architect of Christopher Strom Architects, which he founded in 2014. In 2024 he won the Residential Architect of Distinction Award from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Minnesota, after winning the organization’s Young Architects Award in 2016. He has received numerous design awards and Star Tribune Home of the Month selections. Strom was also the lead designer of the Tostrud Athletic Center. 

He shares all of this expertise with the St. Olaf students he teaches in the January Term course that he leads.  

One of those students this year was Elena Kehew ’25, who didn’t find her passion for architecture until she was a student at St. Olaf. She came to the college interested in environmental studies, with the intent to pursue a studio art major. She also discovered an interest in math, which became her second major.

“Architecture is a great fit,” she says. “It bridges the creative design work that I’m really interested in while using the analytical thinking and problem-solving work that I do in my math classes. Plus, the aspect of its livable impact connects to my interest in environmental studies.”

It was a semester abroad in Denmark with the Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS) Copenhagen Program that cemented Kehew’s interest in the field. She took Architecture Studio Foundations for Non-Majors and New Nordic Design, along with other courses. And, she says, the J-Term course back on the Hill built on that experience, taking her from a conceptual to a preparatory approach. 

Percy, who majors in psychology with concentrations in data science and musical theater, also finds that architecture is a way for her to explore and express her diverse interests. 

“I like to put the puzzle pieces together and solve problems,” she says, “but I also like being creative and doing things with my hands. From this class, I learned how those two things tie together so well in architecture, while connecting to the psychology of a human’s connection to and interaction with physical spaces.”

Her background in architecture comes from courses she took over the summer in high school, but she says this course went beyond “the basics” and allowed her a much deeper engagement with the subject.

Percy and Kehew’s experiences are in line with countless Oles who have taken it over the years, many of whom, like Strom, have gone on to pursue careers in the field. The course was started by Edward Sövik ’39, who is largely responsible for designing the St. Olaf campus — which is known for its beautiful architecture.

After graduating from St. Olaf, serving as a combat pilot during World War II, and graduating from the Yale School of Architecture, Sövik returned to the college to teach in the Art Department. He also founded and chaired the firm that is now SMSQ Architects, responsible for designing 20 building and remodeling projects on campus. 

Steven Edwins ’65, who studied under Sövik, also attended the Yale School of Architecture and came to St. Olaf to teach. Edwins took over the J-Term program in the mid-1980s, and was Strom’s professor when he took the course as a sophomore. 

When Edwins passed away in 2014, his previous students stepped in to teach the course. Taking turns with other architects, Strom has taught the course five times since 2016. One of his students from the 2018 J-Term course, Isaiah Scharen ’19, recently worked for Strom’s firm in the Twin Cities and helped teach the course this year. 

The course itself is constantly evolving, with Strom dedicated to improving it after each iteration. 

“I didn’t expect to spend so much time doing work for the course,” says Percy, “but I think almost every minute it was worth it.”

Kehew also noted that the course required long hours, but both say they enjoyed the challenge, were proud of their projects, and felt a strong sense of community in the classroom. Kehew recently accepted an intern position at Strom’s firm following graduation.

Looking back, Strom says, “I was really fortunate to have people in my life that were supportive personally and professionally, who took the time because they knew it was important to me, and so they made it important to them.”

Now he tries to do the same for his students, who appreciate having a professional voice in the classroom. Kehew points out the insights she gained from Strom and Scharen, and says she now has a more complete and realistic view of what work and graduate school as an architect can look like. Percy adds that “it gave me a really awesome perspective on what it would be like as a career.”

Although commuting to St. Olaf from the Twin Cities every day for a month while working full-time is a high commitment, Strom finds the course rewarding and says it’s worth the time. 

“Teaching this course is a gift for me too,” he says. “It makes me sharpen my way of talking about architecture to a wider audience and just energizes me. The students bring a lot of energy and exploration — when you don’t know what you don’t know, you can come up with some really fun and crazy ideas.”