ERIC ED396975: Design in the Classroom: Exploring the Built Environment.

39 Pages·1993·0.91 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
SO 025 957
ED 396 975
Design in the Classroom: Exploring the Built
TITLE
Environment.
Maine Arts Commission, Augusta.
INSTITUTION
National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, D.C.
SPONS AGENCY
PUB DATE
[93]
NOTE
39p.
Maine Arts Commission, State House Station #25,
AVAILABLE FROM
Augusta, ME 04333.
Classroom Use
Guides
Descriptive (141)
Reports
PUB T-PE
Teaching Guides (For Teacher)
(052)
MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.
EDRS PRICE
*Architectural Education; Architecture; Art
DESCRIPTORS
Activities; Art Education; Building Design; Building
Plans; *Built Environment; Community Cooperation;
Design; *Design Requirements; Elementary Education;
Interdisc;plinary Approach; Schc.ol Community
Relationship; Site Development; Structural Elements
(Construction); *Visual Environment
Bridge Design; *Maine; Playground Design
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
Design and the built environment are subjects of
planning, new
concern to Maine communities. State mandated town
school construction, and the Department of Transportation plans to
rebuild roads and bridges elicit public discussion. The study of
design encourages elementary students to enter this public forum as
informed citizens. Thv study of design in the built environment
requires use of mathematics, scientific, reasoning, visual, spatial,
and verbal skills, and provides opportunities for interdisciplinary
learning. This sampler describes four projects resulting from a 1992
Design Education grant intended to promote design awareness in the
public schools. The projects took place over the course of a year and
involved collaboration among community architects, planners,
engineers, and the school. Each project presented includes a
description of the school/community culture, the framework or plan
for the entire Lourse of design study, and a sample lesson. Projects
represented include: (1) "Marada Adams Community School Playground: A
School and Community Design Project, 1992-1993"; (2) "Hiram
Elementary School Bridge Project"; (3) "Young Designers: Dresden
Elementary School"; and (4) "Bowdoin Central School Students: Design
(MM)
A New School." Each project concludes with a bibliography.
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U S DEPARTMEN1 OF EDUCATION
PERMISSION TO REPRODULE AND
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DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
CENTER rERICI
HAS BEEN G ANTED B. y
This document ha heen reproduced as
HST COPY AVAlLAGLE
recorved horn the person or orgarulation
originating it
O Minor changes have been mado to
improve reproduction quality
Funded through a grant from
Points ot view or opinions stated in this
TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
doct ment do not necessarily represent
the National Endowment for the Arts
INFORMATION CENTER 'ERIC)
OER1 irosrlrori or policy
01110ioi
Design in the Classroom:
Exploring the Built Environment
The Projects
In 1992, the Maine Arts Commission received a Design Education grant
from 'he National Endowment for the Arts to pomote design awareness
in the public schools. At this time, many of the state's schools are restruc-
Marada Adams Community School
turing, creating a new approach to learning which integrates various sub-
Playground
ject areas. The study of design, particularly of the built environment, uses
page 2
mathematic, scientific, reasoning, visual, spatial and verbal skills.
Hiram Elementary School Bridge
Design and the built environment are subjects of current concern to
Project
Maine communities. Public discussion and controversy surround the
page 9
activities of state mandated comprehensive planning for towns, the con-
struction of new schools, and Department of Transportation plans to
Young Designers: Dresden
rebuild roads and bridges. The study of design will prepare and invite stu-
Elementary School
dents to enter this dialogue as informed citizens, to engage them in
page 18
meaningful work and leave them with the knowledge that they can trans-
form their environment. In this dialogue, teachers, students, designers
Bowdoin Central School Students
and community members learn from each other.
Design a New School
page 28
We offer Design in the Classroom as a sampler of four projects which
took place over the course of the year. Each project was a collaboration
among community architects, planners, engineers, and the school. Each
Project Coordinators:
project describes the school/community culture, the framework or plan
Dianne Ba lion
for the entire course of design study, and includes a sample lesson. The
Sharon Townsend
text of each project description was developed by a'. collaborators at
each site. The Dresden, Bowdoin Central and Ada Ils project descriptions
are each presented in the voice of the designer. The Hiram project is pre-
sented in the voice of the principal.
Design in the Classroom is intended to offer new ideas and possibilities
for integrating design elements into your teaching plans. It is not a syl-
labus to be followed from one lesson plan to the next. We hope this doc-
ument will provoke your imagination and present four new approaches to
teaching. A bibliography and funding information is included. Further
information on the projects can be obtained by contacting the schools
and the designers.
Marada Adams Community School Playground:
A School and Community Design Project, 1992-1993
Project Overview
Key Collaborators
This project grew out of work done by The Education Committee at
Jenny Schou
Greater Portland Landmarks. We saw the Marada Adams Community
Project Coordinator
School as an opportunity to involvo students and staff in the design of a
Portland Architect and founder of
playground for which funds had already been appropriated. We submit-
Learning By Design
ted a grant to the Maine Arts Commission and upon the notification of
Deidre Steiner
funding, began the project in earnest in January 1993.
Principal, Mrrada Adams Community
School
We use the word "playground" here to include all of the grounds sur-
Peg RiChard
rounding the school which are used by the public. They currently include
Marada Adams Community School Art
much -Navement, as well as play equipment and a basketbal' court.
Teacher
Durinj spring of 1993, we worked with teachers, 2nd and 3rd grade
Walter Rumery
Adams School students, and a class of King Middle School students. The
King Middle School Teacher
work culminated with the construction and presentation of site models.
Steve Porldelis
We presented a basic site plan to the city engineering staff in June and
Neighborhood Architect, Volunteer
hoped that c...msuucticn of the playground would start this fall, but it has
Kai Jacob
been postponed until Spring or Summer of 1994.
Playground Designer and Presenter
from Kennebunkport
Subject Areas
Kit Ciewes
Playground Designer and Presenter
Social Studies
from Portsmouth
Neighborhood History
Virginia Edwards
Language
Adams School Parent and energetic
Interviewing, Narrative Writirg, Vocabulary
Volunteer par excellence
Math
Linda Campi telli
Measuring, Size/Scale, Mapping
Marada Adams Community School
S:ience
Teacher
Compass Use, Properties of Materials
Bonnie Pulsifer
Art
Marada Adams Community School
Climatic Effects on the Site
Teacher
Drawing, Color, Texture, Pattern
Rene Custeau
Neighborhood Buildings
Marada Adams Community School
Teacher
Patti Perkins
Greater Portland Landmarks Education
Committee
Activities
Alison Noiles
Neighbor, Volunteer, Head of Hill School
Early on in the project, we held a volunteer/staff kick-off
Pat Anderson
meeting after school. Playground designer, Kit Clewes
Art Historian, University of Southern Maine
showed slides of playgrounds he designed which were
Vicki Bonebakker
built by Community Volunteers. Noni Ames talked
Director of Academic and Cultural Collaborative
about the cievelopment and history of the green spaces
Howard Rowe
in Portland. She described Olmstead's concept of green
Deering High School English Teacher
spaces which was guided by the notion that each green
Tom Chaisson
space did not have to p%ovide every amenity, i.e., some
Lyman Moore Middle School Art Teacher
could include trails and special gardens, others would
Alice Spencer
include tennis courts and other recreational activities.
Neighborhood Artist and Landmarks Board Member
Shcs urged staff and volunteers to provide amenities
Martha Deprez
which the nearby Eastern Promenade park did not pro-
Director, Greater Portland Landmarks
vide. Our final presenter was Ler,lie Forbes, who spoke
Ellen Belknap
of her research on gender specific play.
Neighborhood Architect, Volunteer
Scott Benson
Volunteer Ginny Edwards ptovided refreshments. The
Neighborhood Architect, Volunteer
event was well attended by volunteers, teachers and a
Rob Hoover
large contingent of volunteers and board members
Landscape Architect, Presenter
from Greater Portland Landmarks. Throughout the pro-
Leslie Forbes
ject there were countless planning sessions. Key activi-
Presenter on gender-specific play
ty planners were Peg Richard (Adams School), Steve
Larry Mead
Pondelis (Architect), Ginny Edwards (Parent), and
Director, Portland Recreation Departrr ant
Jenny Scheu (Project Coordinator).
Noni Ames
Ornstead Alliance, Presenter
Four Preliminary Design Activities
Betsy Iglehart
Historian, Volunteer
1
Draw a picture from a written description of place. Our
Carol McClure
intent was to have students draw from the description
Neighborhood Cummings Center Director
and see how each had a different "mind's eye view" of
20 King Middle School Students
the same written paragraph.
60 Marada Adams School StudenL3
2
Rob Hoover, Landscape Architect, showed slides of
wonderful landscapes, and students loved them; espe-
cially the real fantasy environments and beautiful out-
door spaces. Clearly while you can turn to existing city
spaces for inspiration, even these are pale by compari-
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Playground designer, Kai Jacob,
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showed slides of playgrounds. After
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viewing his presentation, students were
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asked to draw fantasy playgrounds.
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Second and third graders went on a
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dents to understand that people actually
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living at it. Each student can grow up to
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do whatever they dream, to design their
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To prepare students for the hunt, we
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showed slides of the neighborhood and
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some exceptional non-neighborhood
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buildings. We picked thirty buildings in
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the Munjoy Hill neighborhood, within a
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five block radius of the school and
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divided the students into six teams of
six to ten students and two adults. Each group walked
on a special route to observe ten buildings. Students
were equipped with cardboard "clipboards" (an activity
sheet tapad to a 9"x12" piece of heavy cardboard), a
pencil and a small compass, donated by L.L Bean.
At each building, students were to observe many char-
acteristics: shapes, materials, color, plantings, views,
et. al, and note them on their clipboard using special
symbols. Each student was to find one special thing to
share with the group.
Playground Design
Our final activities related to the school playground site:
1
King Middle School students arrived with tape mea-
sures an worked on an actual tenth scale model of the
playground site. This model was built of cardboard and
te-,1
showed the residential buildings adjacent to the site.
Steve Pondelis, an architect volunteer, worked closely
with students on transcribing their field measurements
to a reduced scale and constructing a model. These stu-
dents had been working on an overview of green
spaces in Portland. The middle school students had
looked forward to working with the elementary stu-
dents.
...
2
Questionnaires were sent to each students' family to
ask how they felt about the playground and what
changes could be made.
3
Students talked with other students about the qualities
which make green spaces and play spaces fun to be in.
Students drew up a list of qualities they wanted to see
on their own school site.
4.
4
We discussed the fact that the actual budget for the site
changes was not large enough to convert the site into a
Models
huge playground full of new play equipment.
1
Each of the six groups of Adams School students
We discussed the needs of others in the communit
designed and built a model of their proposed play-
who use the space.
ground. They were provided a grab bag of model mak-
5
ing materials and a cardboard base for each model
One requirement of the City was the construction of a
which was to fit into the larger "context" model made
new basketball court. Students had to decide where the
by the King Middle School students.
court should be located.
2
The groups worked on their models for a total of four
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1446 1141
hours (two 2 hour sessions over two weeks) with the
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help of older King Middle School students. Each group
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presented their model and enjoyed seeing the great
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variety of solutions to the same problem. The fact that
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there is no right answer is the most wonderful and
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empowering aspect of learning about design!
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The common feature of all of the playground designs
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was changing the existing large areas of pavement to
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models that they added many of their own special
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materials to make their own models very elaborate.
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At the end of the school year the voluntee- architects
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reviewed all student models of the site and focused on
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the actual budget for construction. They prepared a
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plan to submit to the Portland City Engineers. Because
of a backlog of construction projects and a shortage of
be.
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staff, the project was not scheduled for construction in
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1993. Larry Mead of the Portland Recreation
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Department has indicated that the project will likely be
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postponed until the end of the '93-'94 school year.
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Project Strengths
The redesign of the Adams School playground was a
"real" project. Students' imaginations are so vibrant. It
was fun and easy for them to dream about making
changes to their inhospitable site. They especially
loved being outside in the neighborhood, and I think
both students' and teachers' eyes were open to the
myriad of spaces and building details right in their own
backyard.
Children love to make models. Reaching a group con-
should be was a
sensus about what their own design
learning experience. Suveral parents were very excited
about the project. Involving the middle school students
Summary Comments
was a big hit with the younger children.
Jenny Potter Scheu
We learned about project organization and grant writ-
Architect and Project Coordinator
ing. We learned about the critical importance of good
communicating for the success of a project.
I think many people were and are excited about this
project. The children gained insight into the nature of
Project Weaknesses
quality space and into their own eastern Munjoy Hill
neighborhood. We were certainly encouraged at every
Perhaps the biggest structural problem was turn by Deidre Steiner, Principal at Adams School. I
scheduling between King and Adams School
think the project has inspired Greater Portland
staff. Each school really worked on their own
Landmarks to put a greater emphasis on work in the
Portland Schools and to working with their own future
and only got together for the two model
constituents. Their own organization and more impor-
making afternoons.
tantly, the City, will benefit from making the concern
for good design and planning art important part of citi-
The project itself would have been more
effective if it had been more intensive, i.e.,
zenship.
two+ activities per week for four weeks,
instead of one per week for six weeks.
This project has orvy strengthened my own commit-
ment to the importance of design education and the
Spend more time with both elementary and
involvement of community professionals in local
middle school students on the concept of
school programs. And finally, we are not complete. We
scale. We should have made the models a
plan further school activities and a community play-
larger scale as they were hard to work on at
ground effort for fall 1993 and winter 1994.
such a small scale.
Funding for the Adams Project
Throughout the course of the project, we
could have used more community participa-
Maine Arts Commission
tion. With hindsight, we should have leaned
Marada Adams Community School PTO
more on the parent organization at Adams
Professional Supporters
School. We hope that as the site is renovat-
ed, there will be. room for community partici-
We more than topped our cash / in-kind support as we
pation and certainly for community celebra-
had so very many volunteer hours. Our supply cost
tion.
Teachers asked
was lower owing to donated materials.
that their pay go toward the purchase of a water foun-
tain for the site.
Bibliography
If you could buy ONE book for your school library, Architecture in Education: A Resource of Imaginative Ideas and
Tested Activities, should be the one. The book is available for $20.00 from: The Foundation For Architecture, One
Penn Center at Suburban Station, Philadelphia, PA 19103. Telephone: [phone], FAX: [phone].
Anuther terrific resource is: "ArchiSOURCES Catalog" from the Center for Understanding the Built Environment.
They have a wonderful Newsletter, a catalog of supplies and great ideas from all over the world. Write or call:
(CUBE), 5328 West 67th Street, Prairie Village, KS 66208. Telephone: [phone].
Abhau, Marcy, ed., with Rolaine Copeland and Greta Greenberger. Architecture in Education: A Resource of
Imaginative Ideas and Tested Activities. Philadelphia, PA: Found,..tion for Architecture, 1987.
American Architectural Foundation. The Pocket Guide to Architectural Education. The American Architectural
Foundation, 1735 New York Avenue, N.W, Washington,D.C. 20006.
ArchiSOURCES Catalog. The Center for Understanding the Built Environment. Prairie Village, KS.
Balaban, Richard C. and Alison lgo St. Clair. The Mystery Tour: Exploring the Designed Environment with
1-31
Children. Washington, D.C: National Endowment for the Arts, 1976.
Devlin, Harry. To Grandfather's House We Go: A Roadside Tour of American Homes. New York: Four Winds Press,
1967.
Gibbons, Gail. Up Goes the Skyscraper. New York: Four Winds Press, 1986.
Isaacson, Philip M. Round Buildings, Square Buildings, & Buildings That Wiggle Like A Fish. New York: Alfred A.
Knopf, 1988.
Macaulay, David. Underground. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1976.
Shaffer, Carolyn and Erica Fielder. City Safaris: A Sierra Club Explorer's Guide to Urban Adventures for Grownups
and Kids. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1987.
Sobol, Harriet Langsam. Pete's House. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1978.
Symonds, Hilda, ed. The Teacher and the City. Toronto: Methuen, 1971.
Trogler, George 7. Beginning Experiences in Architecture: A Guide for the Elementary Teacher. New York: Van
Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1972.