Texas A&M University, Department of Architecture
Architecture 605-602: The Firm Design Studio
Project Description
(Preliminary, Last updated August 27, 1996)
The overall goal of this design studio is to explore the architectural
design implications of alternative teaching philosophies. Because each teaching
philosophy has different spatial implications, it is not possible to give
one architectural program to the entire studio. Therefore, the goals of
this project are:
1) To decide on the basic instructional philosophy (educational specification)
of a middle school and
2) To develop and present an architectural program that is consistent with
that teaching philosophy.
Educational Specification: An educational specification is a report
that outlines the instructional philosophy and resulting class sizes, supporting
activities, etc., for a school. These may be prepared school districts.
For the purpose of this project, a brief description of instructional philosophy
will be included in the architectural program.
Architectural Program: An architectural program is a clear statement
of the design problem that will be used by the architect to design a building.
It consists of a detailed list of space requirements as well as a qualitative
statement of the design problem and design criteria.
We will use a simplified version of the "Problem Seeking" approach
to architectural programming. This is a well defined and often used method
for programming defined in the book Problem Seeking
(see Bibliography).
There are two parts to this project.
Part 1: The Quantitative Program
a. Space requirements for non-instructional areas.
In order to simplify programming and because non-instructional areas are generally standard in most schools, this data will be provided by PBK Architects. The data will be made available to students in both hard copy and on an excel spreadsheet.
Presentation of non-instructional space requirements will be done by the class as a whole. Each student will be assigned a specific task necessary to prepare this presentation using the method described in Problem Seeking (see Guidelines for the Preparation of "Brown Sheets"), pp. 165-169.
b. Space requirements for instructional areas.
Instructional spaces will vary, depending on the instructional philosophy. Each 2-person student team (see Part 2) will prepare a separate insert for the brown sheets which details their space requirements for instructional spaces.
Part 2: The Qualitative Program
Part 2 will be done in teams of two students per team. If there is an odd number of people in the class, one team will have three students.
The qualitative part of the program (the GOALS, FACTS, CONCEPTS and NEEDS of the school in terms of form, function, economy and time) will be prepared and presented by each individual team using the guidelines presented in Problem Seeking.
1. A presentation by and group discussion with Dr. Sarah Ashburn.
2. A presentation by and group discussion with Frank Kelly, FAIA, on adjacencies
and relationships.
3. A presentation by and group discussion with Eric Willard, educational
consultant from Elert, Inc. CLICK HERE FOR
WEB SITES SENT TO US BY ERIC
4. Quantitative program of non-instructional areas prepared by PBK Architects.
5. Students who wish to may review example architectural programs in the
extensive library
of programs located in the CRS Center archives.
Each team will formally present the results of their programming activity
beginning at 1:30 pm on Friday, October 11, 1996. It is expected that Dr.
Ashburn and a partner from PBK Architects will be present for this review.
Quantitative Program. The quantitative program for non-instructional
areas will be displayed on "brown sheets" by the class. Individual
teams will discuss their insert for instructional areas.
Qualitative Program. The presentation format for the qualitative
program will be determined by each team. The only requirement is that the
final format can be reproduced (possibly in a reduced size) onto an 8-1/2"
by 11" format. Analysis cards are a prominent part of the Problem Seeking
process. A reasonable number of analysis cards will be supplied by the CRS
Center if requested by the team.
Peña, William M., Steven A. Parshall and Kevin Kelly. Problem
Seeking, 3rd Edition. Washington: AIA Press, 1987. (Required)
Here are just a few of many Internet web sites that you may find are
relevant to this project.
Apple
Classroom of Tomorrow (ACOT)
Apple Computer has funded this research related to learning information
technology. Some of this research is relevant to the design of schools (see
Learning Environments, Research report #19, 1994). There is also a substantial
bibliography at this site.
Technology
and Education Reform
A research project sponsored by the Department of Education. This research
project looked at nine school sites where school staff were active participants
in incorporating technology in ways that supported education reform. Contains
a report on the experiences of the teachers and students at these schools.
Reinventing
Schools: The Technology is Now!
This is the electronic version of a book that is soon to be published, written
by Philip M. Smith, former Executive Officer of the National Research Council.
One excerpt has an interesting description of a new
model for education in which technology plays a positive role. It has
significant implications for school facilities.
Education and Community:
Four Scenarios for the Future of Public Education
A very provocative document which is the result of a "scenario
planning" exercise developed jointly by the National Education Association
(NEA) and the Global Business Network
(GBN) in 1994. This is required reading.
The Rice School
An alternative school that is a collaboration between Rice University and
Houston HISD. Photos and floor plans are available here. This is one of
the schools we may visit.
Some interesting model schools from The
International Center for Leadership in Education
Application of Bloom's Cognitive and Affective Taxonomies
This is a part of the web site of Mt. Edgecumbe High School, Sitka, Alaska. This school has used the quality improvement process of Deming and Juran as a way to improve the learning environment. Mt. Edgecumbe has developed into one of the best schools in the nation, serving the diverse rural Alaskan population, through the effective use of the Quality Improvement process.
River Oaks Public School, Oakville, Ontario
This K-8 school prepares students as "knowledge workers" or "information architects" for the workplace of the 21st century. Technology has become a natural, almost transparent tool in the student's day to help manage the large amounts of information available. More than 5,500 visitors from around the world have toured the school to observe the restructured curriculum and students and teachers in action.
Peninsula School District, Gig Harbor, Washington
The Peninsula School District is considered one of the strongest and most innovative
districts in the State of Washington. Yet, the expectations on the part of the Board,
staff, and community are to push forward toward much higher expectations. The
Peninsula School District, working in close association with the community it serves, is embarking on a restructuring process which will significantly change the delivery of instruction to students. The most recent project is to initiate the SchoolBook program in which each student uses a notebook computer.
Great American
Schools: Public Education Works
A brief description of model schools from the National Education Association
(NEA). Some of these descriptions have
links to the model school web site.