School Design

[Lucy Gray]

Happy Friday, Everyone -

I think I'm getting back in the habit of posting a regular Friday 5.
Cross your fingers!

This week, school design is on my mind. I'm heading to New York next
Wednesday to serve on a panel at the American Architectural
Foundation’s summit entitled Schoolhouse 3.0: Designing Educational
Facilities for 21st Century Technologies and Curriculums (http://
www.archfoundation.org/aaf/aaf/News.93.htm). The goal of this panel
(which also includes Frank Kelly of the SHW Group, Tom Carroll of the
National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, and Charles
Fadel of Cisco Systems) is to set the stage for summit participants
around the role of educational technology and school design. We'll be
discussing the need for transformation in our schools, and future
implications for school planning teams. This is going to be an amazing
learning experience; I appreciate good design and believe that it is a
critical component to creating effective learning environments. I
particularly think that schools serving at risk populations really
need to focus on the impact of design on learning; good design is not
something we should reserve for better resourced communities.

So, as I think about conversations that will take place next week,
here are a few web sites that I will be consulting or referring to:

1. DesignShare
http://www.designshare.com/

2. Don't Just Rebuild Schools - Reinvent Them
http://www.fieldingnair.com/Press/Education_Week_Dont_Just_Rebuild_Schools_Reinvent_Them.pdf

A recent EdWeek article by DesignShare Managing Director Prakash Nair.

3. Design Matters
http://designmatters.art.uiuc.edu/

Not directly related to school design, this web site from the
University of Illinois contains video lectures given by prominent
people in the design field. Thanks for Doris Wells-Papanek for this
link.

4. Schools Designed for Learning: The Denver School of Science and
Technology
From the American Architectural Foundation's Great Schools by Design
Initiative
http://www.archfoundation.org/aaf/gsbd/Video.Denver.Short.htm

This is an online exhibit from the group that is sponsoring the
aforementioned summit.

5. Horizon Report 2009 K12 Edition
http://www.nmc.org/publications/2009-horizon-k12-report

I served on the advisory board for this report, and will be
referencing it during our panel discussion. The report names future
trends in educational technology; these trends will impact future
school design.

Take care,

Lucy Gray