In these tough times making good school design decisions has never been more difficult or more important. To find out how some of the nation’s top architects and administrators are coping with these challenges attend Architectural Record’s Schools of the 21st Century Symposium. It will be held Friday, April 9th, at the Hyatt McCormick Place in Chicago, the day before the NSBA Conference. The event is free of charge and is being presented with the support of McGraw-Hill Education and the American Architectural Foundation.
Click here for more information.
“A” is for Architecture
There are plenty of reasons to believe the next generation of schools will be the best ever designed
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Changing the design paradigm
In 1960, the American Association of School Administrators published, Planning America’s School Buildings. Its authors take such a patronizing tone toward the desire of teachers (and similarly school board officials) to collaborate that it is painful to read. They wrote:
Unfortunately, all too often in past years teachers have wasted time set aside for educational planning in playing at being architect. Few teachers clearly visualize space and the implications of space. They were not trained to do this. In planning, therefore, teachers should do that part of the job they can do best—describing the teaching process—and leave to the architect the responsibility for designing space that will house these activities now and in the future.
Financial Benefits of Green Schools
Schools ($ per square foot)
| Energy | $9 |
| Emissions | $1 |
| Water and Wastewater | $1 |
| Increased Earnings | $49 |
| Asthma Reduction | $3 |
| Cold and Flu Reduction | $5 |
| Teacher Retention | $4 |
| Employment Impact | $2 |
| Total | $74 |
| Cost of Greening | ($3) |
| Net financial benefits | $71 |
Greening America’s Schools, Capital E, 2006
This was not the only place where the AASA got it wrong. The book frequently refers to school buildings as “the school-plant,” as if schools were factories where educated citizens were manufactured. Luckily, educators and designers are increasingly moving away from the factory model that defined K-12 facilities for most of the 20th century, toward buildings with highly flexible spaces intended to encourage collaboration and project-based learning.
In October, the American Architectural Foundation brought together more than 40 architects, educators, design experts, and students for a three-day “Design for Learning Forum” event in Minneapolis. They looked ahead to the future of school design with an emphasis on improving the link between design and student achievement. Attendees produced 10 key recommendations worth the notice of anyone planning a school construction project (see Design for Learning Forum, bellow). They noted that the very definition of “school” is being called into question as the scope of the learning environment continues to expand. Participants recognized that in new, media-rich learning environments the school may become just one of many educational hubs as, students move in and out of the building with hand-held devices to learn anytime and anywhere.
At an Alpine District prototype middle school in Utah, VCBO Architecture used upward-sliding glass doors to connect classrooms to a central collaboration area. Here, members of different classes work together. Photo © Dana Sohm.
But, as participants in this forum pointed out, there are still significant challenges to improving the design process. In many states opportunity to design great schools is currently thwarted by regulatory policies that can encourage the design of mediocre schools. Implementing reform is often difficult in a context of inappropriate standards, security consciousness, and stakeholders with conflicting agendas.
Nevertheless, there is much reason to be optimistic about the abilities of students, parents, teachers, architects, and school officials to take advantage of research—and personal experience—that shows just how strong the link between school design and student achievement really is. They also recognize that our nation’s schools must serve multiple civic purposes, and act as centers of community. This is one place where the AASA’s 1960 publication did get it right: “Schools of today must keep in tune with needs of our times and preserve the underlying values of American democracy.” That is, educational facilities should demonstrate a commitment to active citizenship, diversity, equity, and access to new learning opportunities.
Design for Learning Forum
Ten findings from the recent Design for Learning forum, held Last fall by the American Architecture Foundation:
+ Reinvent the design process to allow for greater innovation.
+ Design with flexibility in mind: give teachers and students the freedom and space for greater creativity in the learning process.
+ Respond more quickly to the ongoing paradigm change in teaching and learning.
+ Create stronger links to education reformers seeking to close the achievement gap and design with 21st century skills in mind.
+ Recognize the power of technology as well as its limits.
+ Make the design process more inclusive: recognize the voice of students and the role of citizen designers.
+ Design for the Age Wave: recognize that in this era of life-long learning, millions of retiring baby-boomers will want to use schools facilities.
+ Rebuild the connection between school and community: design the next generation of schools as community learning centers.
+ Provide school board members with a greater level of expertise and create a richer design matrix that moves school boards beyond the bottom line as the over-riding reason to choose one design over another.
+ Invest in research that links school design to student achievement including such indirect links as teacher retention, personalization, and conditions for learning.