Beyond the traditional brick box

Aging and outdated facilities, a burgeoning school-age population, and changes in curriculum and teaching methods have made school design a hot topic for the new century. As communities across the country grapple with these issues, architects are rethinking how schools will be designed.

Why do schools need to be designed differently?.

The factory model of education-where students shuffled along corridors into cookie-cutter classrooms every 45 minutes or so-worked well in the Industrial Age, says Steven Bingler, a national leader in innovative school design. But the Information Age demands school environments that foster critical thinking and teamwork.

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Architecturally, this means designing project-friendly spaces that are more like studios than classrooms.

But classrooms also need flexibility, adds Bingler, founder of the New Orleans-based Concordia Architects. Moveable walls, for example, could be built to accommodate everything from quiet workspace to large lectures. How can existing schools be remodeled to meet 21st century needs?

Chicago-based architect Paul Hansen of VOA & Associates is currently leading his community in the redesign of three area high schools. He finds many of his ideas in the business world.

Using the retail model, for example, Hansen redesigns school libraries to resemble super-chain bookstores, and cafeterias to look more like food courts. He also creates spaces for conferencing and brainstorming.

To adequately prepare students, says Hansen, new schools should be wired for fiber optics, internal computer networks, and videoconferencing equipment.

"But we're not totally moving away from the standard-lecture model," says Hansen. "Certain teachers work better that way. Some students like it, too." What role should the community play in the redesign process?

The community should be involved in construction or redesign projects right from the start, says architect Bingler from New Orleans, who has more than 12 years experience in school design.

Planning should start, says Bingler, with a steering committee of about 100 people representing different community groups. Educators should make up about 25 percent of the committee, to help other committee members understand which ideas would benefit students and how they could best be implemented.

The steering committee should also include-and listen to-students, says Bingler.

"Kids don't know what doesn't work," he says. "They can be much more open to ideas."

Is it difficult to design by committee?

It's not easy getting school district leadership to hand over decision making to teachers, parents, community, and students, admits Bingler.

"Leaders don't know how to do it or trust the process," he says.

Full-scale community planning takes about a year to 18 months to complete. The planning process usually concludes with a steering committee presenting recommendations to the school board and the larger community.

The process may be lengthy, says Bingler, but all that time can help build consensus and support for public schools.

"If a plan is the community's idea, they'll vote for it," he says.

The nation's schools desperately need updating, but many districts can't afford to redesign. Do they have alternatives?

It's time, says Bingler, to change our 20th century thinking about how to build schools. He suggests putting schools in existing spaces, anything from an empty hospital wing to a museum.

"Teachers and students want to get out of the schools, to be connected to the real world," says Bingler, who has designed a high school inside the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. "The most important thing is student achievement. The right environment can really lift kids up to learn."

The nation can no longer afford to have buildings serve only one purpose, adds Bingler. He's currently developing a proposal that would help public schools in Washington, D.C., take advantage of "the world's biggest school"-the Smithsonian Institution's museum complex.

Schools, Bingler also believes, need to be built for and open to their surrounding communities. School buildings can double as multicultural arts centers. High school auditoriums can serve as community theaters. And school gymnasiums can be turned, after hours, into public fitness centers.

Bingler can even imagine establishing a school inside a stadium.

"It's empty all week. You could just move into it," he reasons, adding that he's inspired by teachers interested in athletics-focused curricula.

What else is out there on the school design horizon?

"Schools have only scratched the surface of distance learning and virtual reality," says Chicago architect Paul Hansen.

In the future, Hansen notes, students might telecommute for part of the school day, which could resolve some arguments over school starting times and allow night-owl teens to complete schoolwork at midnight and steep in.

But, Hansen stresses, students and teachers would still need places to come together.

"There has to be human contact," he explains. "If it were so easy to learn calculus on our own from a book, why haven't more of us done it?"