Committee on Architecture for Education

I wanted to share some of my thoughts after attending the fall CAE conference at EDspaces in Cincinnati last week. One standout for me was the diversity of attendees. When I attend other conferences that center around architecture and the built environment I find that there are not many attendees from the owner or user side. At EDspaces there was a good mix of folks working on the school side including educators, administrators and district managers. This allowed for great conversations around the needs of schools and how design plays a role. 

One of the most enjoyable and informative aspects to the conference was the immersion of attendees in "the life of a student". The rooms for education sessions were setup as a classroom might be including many of the furnishings that designers specify every day. The variety of seating and table options ranged from balance balls, flexible chairs to standing desks and tables. I can say that while I have seen and sat on these furnishings before I never had the opportunity to do so for that length of time or to use them while trying to achieve tasks just as students do. The "student" perspective didn't stop there; a school cafeteria setup was provided for lunch. This brought back fond memories of childhood and gave insight into the healthy, local food revolution happening in schools today. It was a great opportunity to be in the life of the student and will stick with me as I design these spaces int eh future.

Education session topics ranged from understanding the maker mindset to designing for early childhood learning. Perhaps the one discussion that particularly resonated with me was the positive linkage between education, health, environment and economy as discussed at the plenaries. This linkage is very real and powerful. We should all be able to agree that every child has the right to quality education and a healthy start to life. However, we know that this does not happen and we hear various barriers to achieving this. These barriers are more perceived than real. We heard from an executive of big business about how investing in education is not contrary to good financial outcomes but mutually beneficial. Another panelist discussed how better economic development of our communities is also directly linked to the quality of schools. Yet another talked about the connection between the toxicity of the interior and exterior environment on the health as well as achievement of students. So we can make people healthier, save the planet, better educate students thus creating more and better jobs and improve our economy all by investing in schools? This is the outcome that I work towards everyday with the work that I do. We need to all be partners in this challenge and I appreciate the conference bringing this topic to all the parties attending the conference to take back the challenge to their communities.