Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE/DC)
Mission Statement:
The Washington DC Committee on Architecture for Education is a forum to gather a broad range of stakeholders (designers, builders, learners, educators, administrators, and the public) interested in the design of great educational environments. This forum will promote the sharing of best practices, the exchange of innovative ideas, and the celebration and study of local successes and resources.
Our goals will be accomplished by tapping the wealth of resources within the Committee and the National Capital Region through group discussions, tours, workshops, roundtables, and lectures as appropriate. The committee's web site will be used to document and disseminate the body of knowledge presented and developed by the committee and its activities.
Meetings:
Meetings are open to the public and are typically held on the third Thursday of every month at 5:30 p.m. Please check the individual program announcements to confirm the date, time and location. Reservations are required and can be made by emailing:
sodonnell@eekarchitects.com or calling (202) 202.480.7866
Upcoming Programs:
Exhibition
School Buildings - The State of Affairs
A new architecture for a new education
February 15 – March 14, 2008
University of Maryland College Park School of Architecture Gallery
Opening Reception: February 15, 2008 5:30 pm
Today's educators require flexible spaces that can accommodate multiple functions and future demands. They need spaces that enhance modern teaching methods and a student's personal development. Although architecture by itself cannot provide a good education, the environment it creates has an important effect on a student's well-being and ability to learn. This environment can encourage students to explore and foster their creative talents. Likewise, a well designed school may promote social-emotional learning among students of all ages through a comprehensive design of the entire school campus, including spaces that extend learning beyond the classroom.
Communities often need to share school facilities. Changing social patterns require additional services at schools. Constrained municipal budgets lead to more multi-use buildings that serve educational and community needs. Designing schools is an increasingly collaborative effort that includes teachers, students, education consultants and parents. In response to these changing policies and requirements, many architects are creating schools that look, feel and function differently.
The exhibition illustrates this process and schools that have been built in response to these emerging issues. It showcases thirty-one examples of recently built or designed schools from Switzerland along with examples from Austria, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and Scandinavia.
The exhibition is based on an exhibit shown in Zurich 2004 and organized by ETH Zurich/ Center for Cultural Studies in Architecture (CSSA), Zurich Building Authority, Zurich School and Sports Authority, Zurich University of Teacher Education.
This installation is organized and designed by:
Exhibition Panels by:
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AIA New York Chapter Committee on Architecture for Education, Umberto Dindo, AIA, Chairman
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ETH Zurich/ Center for Cultural Studies in Architecture (CSSA),
Exhibition Underwriters:
Defining the Urban School in the 21st Century Symposium
Saturday February 16, 2008
9:00 am to 12:30 pm
Location: University of Maryland College Park School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation Lecture Hall & Gallery
On February 16th, building upon the opening of the international exhibit of school architecture “School Buildings - a State of Affairs,” representatives of two world cities will join a multi-disciplinary panel to define and discuss the most critical issues and challenges facing the design of urban school environments in the 21st Century.
Few municipalities have worked to define and address these issues with more determination than the City of Zurich, Switzerland, a financial center and home to many of the world's largest companies. For the past five years, an international survey found that Zurich is “the city with the highest quality of living in the world.” An important contributor to that perception is the quality of the city's education system.
The newly elected Mayor of Washington, DC Adrian Fenty, has begun a $3.5 billion school modernization program as part of a comprehensive renewal of the city’s school system. Starting with the belief that education is the most important promise a society makes to its citizens, collectively the Mayor’s efforts are designed to ensure a high-quality education in healthy, safe and engaging neighborhood schools that are the physical and symbolic center of their communities.
Join us as representatives of these two world cities discuss their goals and successes and, share best practices in creating great urban schools for the 21st Century.
AIA continuing education credits will be available for the symposium.
For further information and to register for this event email: schoolbuildings@eekarchitects.com
Useful Links:
The National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities
www.edfacilities.org
The Society for College and University Planning
www.scup.org
Contact for More Information:
Sean O'Donnell
Phone: 202-460-7866
Email:
sodonnell@eekarchitects.com
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