Good Enough to Eat

For the past week, the sound of an electric mixer could be heard coming from Visual Arts Department Head Michael Frassinelli’s classroom. He was mixing up batch after batch of royal icing as his Architecture I/II students were hard at work creating gingerbread houses.

An annual project in his class, Frassinelli uses the days leading up to Winter Break for this project that combines his students’ new architectural knowledge with some winter fun. The project begins with students first researching various house designs, then creating their ultimate gingerbread house — no idea is too big.

From there, students sketch their plans using pencil, paper or iPads, which become printed elevations and floor plans, then eventually the various pieces that will make up their houses. Pieces are measured and cut to size from gingerbread baked by Mr. Fraz, then assembled with royal icing and decorated. The houses go on display in Common Ground until Winter Break.

The students all agreed the project was harder than anticipated. “It was a lot of trial and error,” C. Nwafor ’24 said, of everything from the right consistency of royal icing to use to which decorations would look best — and stick — on the house.

“It has been a great tradition, started from a suggestion by Maddie Chisholm ’14 nearly 15 years ago,” Frassinelli said. “The students learn some architectural and problem-solving skills while having some holiday fun. It’s nice to smell the gingerbread and end the year on a sweet note.”