With school enrollment projected to increase at record levels through 2013, and spending on school construction, renovation and maintenance expected to total nearly $30 billion annually, the need to transform our schools has never been more urgent. To learn how you can help schools make better design decisions, attend the Schools of the 21st Century Symposium on March 28, 2008, in Orlando, Florida. The event is presented by Architectural Record with the support of McGraw-Hill Education and the American Architectural Foundation.
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Product Profiles
Competition Yields Insights
Thoughtful "Redesign Your School" entries show what kids want in their schools.
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Photos © The American Architectural Foundation
Tyler J. Rush thinks school should be a happy place. But the Texas teen feels that schools' typical small, windowless rooms fail to evoke a feel-good vibe that encourages learning. So he designed the "Light + Nature School."
His ideal campus features asymmetrical buildings with "translucent, tensioned fabric" roofs to shine daylight throughout each space. Rush designed it to mimic the outdoors where he's happiest—tromping through the woods, frolicking in the river or just chilling out under the sun.
"The school is centered around an outdoor courtyard, which acts as a natural interaction space for students," he said. It's "a new, healthy way to look at school design centered around nature."
Most of the eleven angular buildings on his campus boast massive windows. The photovoltaic-powered building is a community resource with a shared stadium, fitness center, cafe, and 24-hour library. He clustered class areas by subject to create a "small school culture" so kids can learn in cozy groups. His wireless, high-tech campus relies on laptop computers more than books. Rush said he was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West and the Denver International Airport.
He wowed the jury with his presentation. "Holy cow," said one juror as he opened the spiral bound notebook with its 15 pages of professional-looking drawings. Ron Bogle, president and CEO of the American Architectural Foundation, later said that Rush "had a well-developed philosophy about his concept" and he "expressed it with a tremendous amount of sophistication."
Rush created his project with Google's "SketchUp" software. It took "many, many late nights," he said.
Born in San Jose, California, Rush moved to Austin when he was five. His mom, Terri, is a former interior designer. Dad, Ira, is a computer engineer. When he's not hanging outdoors, the 18-year-old is strumming a guitar.
Rush started getting hooked on architecture after his parents built two custom-designed houses. Last summer he interned at an architectural firm and enrolled in a two-week exploratory course at Clemson University. Now he's engaged in a mentoring program with an architect at Westlake High School. Next stop: architecture school. The high school senior is now working on his college applications.
THE WINNERS
The winners of the American Architectural Foundation's Redesign Your School competition came from many different cultural backgrounds. They are:
Grand Prize Winner•Tyler Rush, Westlake High School, Austin, Texas
Finalists•Alice Cao, Thomas More Prep-Marian High School, Hays, Kansas
•Alixis Clark, Westwood High School, Austin, Texas
•Tannie Duong, La Quinta High School, Westminster, California
•Oscar Lucero, East Haven High School, East Haven, Connecticut and Educational Center for the Arts ACES, New Haven, Connecticut
•Irina Papuc, Woodstock High School, Woodstock, Illinois
•Patcharin Saefrung, San Jose High Academy, San Jose, California
•Aaron Tobey, Western Albemarle High School, Crozet, Virginia