Category: Learning by Design

2012 was major year of growth for the Center for Architecture Foundation (CFAF), which kicked off the year with its 20th Anniversary Celebration. The Foundation grew to add Alice Stryker as Development and Operations Coordinator; she was instrumental in launching the organization’s first annual drawing competition and benefit, Guess-A-Sketch. The architecture-themed Pictionary-style tournament featured Hugh Hardy, FAIA, Charles Renfro, AIA, Ronnette Riley, FAIA, and Robert Rogers, FAIA, as honoree sketchers, and Walter A. Hunt, Jr., FAIA, as emcee. Continue reading “CFAF Grows in 2012, Announces New Adult Programs in 2013”

The Center for Architecture Foundation (CFAF) kicked off the launch of its 16th annual exhibition of K-12 student design work, “Building Connections 2012,” on 11.30.12 with an Architecture Education Open House. The exhibition, which runs through 01.19.13, highlights the achievements of students and classrooms who participated in CFAF’s built environment education programs during the 2011-12 school year. Featured among the 12 projects are model bridges from CFAF’s in-school residencies, digital design animations from after-school studios, and sketchbooks from CFAF’s Summer@theCenter Architectural Drawing program.

The Open House was held to coincide with the first day of the exhibition and to introduce teachers, parents, and architecture enthusiasts to the Foundation’s school and family programs. Guests were able to learn more about CFAF’s teaching methodology developed over more than 20 years of built environment education experience. The Foundation works with thousands of young people each year, using the interdisciplinary study of architecture to enrich student learning across the K-12 curricula to strengthen problem-solving and creative thinking skills.

The Foundation also took the opportunity to publicly recognize its generous sponsors, AIANY and its exhibitions staff, and Design360 Inc., the exhibition designer. CFAF also thanked its dedicated Board of Directors, talented Design Educators, and the numerous volunteers and interns who help to make all of its education programs possible.

On 01.07.13, CFAF will offer two exhibition-related programs as part of the Foundation’s expanded 2013 programs for the general adult public.  From 12:00 – 1:00 pm, CFAF Design Educators will lead a Guided Exhibition Tour of “The Edgeless School: Design for Learning and Building Connections 2012.” From 6:00 – 8:00 pm, the Foundation will host a panel discussion entitled Making a School: Principals and Architects in Conversation. For more information and to register, please visit www.cfafoundation.org.

Teachers and staff at P.S. 1 in Chinatown had a fascinating history lesson at a Center for Architecture Foundation workshop on 11.06.12. The focus of the program was the design of their own 1899 school building, one of 400 schools designed by Charles B.J. Snyder, Superintendent of School Buildings for New York City from 1891 – 1923.

C.B.J. Snyder expert Jean Arrington began the program with a slide talk familiarizing teachers with Snyder’s design ideas and the transformative effect his work had on the city’s school system. Snyder’s schools are typically elegant buildings with spacious, well-lit classrooms, good ventilation, and ample space for student recreation. He believed that students of every income level and background deserved dignified schools that would elevate the learning experience and improve the unhealthy conditions in which many New Yorkers lived. He developed innovative ways of fire proofing and maximizing the use of space through his signature “H-plan” layout, double stair halls, and rooftop playgrounds.

P.S. 1 teachers were amazed to see historic photographs of students using the rooftop play space and specialty classrooms on the building’s top floor. They lamented the boarding up of the once-operable transom windows that let light and air flow from classrooms to hallways, creating cooling breezes and brightening the school’s interior spaces. The teachers then took a tour of the building, starting at the roof and ending in the basement, identifying some of the design features they had just learned about. It was a fun way to kick off CFAF’s architecture program on local landmarks with P.S. 1’s second-graders, sponsored in part by the New York State Council on the Arts and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, and to give the staff a fresh perspective on their old school building.

Student design work from P.S. 1’s landmark program will be featured in CFAF’s annual “Building Connections” exhibit, opening Friday, 11.30.12, 4–7 pm at the Center. Historic schools will be the focus of the panel discussion “Adapting Historic Schools for 21st Century Learning” at the Center 01.17.13, 6–8 pm.

In partnership with the Center for Architecture’s 2nd annual Archtober – architecture and design month in New York City – the Center for Architecture Foundation welcomed new architecture enthusiasts of all ages by offering three free family days. More than 500 people stopped by the Center for Architecture on 10.6-7.12 for the openhousenewyork Weekend Family Festival, as part of the 10th annual OHNY Weekend. CFAF, in partnership with OHNY, hosted several local organizations, including Eldridge Street Synagogue, Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts, Noble Maritime Collection, No Longer Empty, and Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92. Children and their families were provided with free interactive and engaging activities, creating stained glass windows, decorating architectural masks, and designing the ship of their dreams.

At FamilyDay@theCenter on 10.20.12, dozens more participants explored the role of light in design and built architectural lanterns; a variety of translucent and colorful models dazzled as they were illuminated from within. Their work will be proudly displayed at Heritage Ball, the Center for Architecture’s annual fundraising event 10.25.12.

CFAF would like to extend a special thanks to all the volunteers who made these Family Days possible, particularly from the Community Service Center at the New York Institute of Technology.

The Foundation offers Family Days at the Center for Architecture monthly on Saturdays. The next FamilyDay@theCenter – Design a School of the Future – will take place on 11.3.12, focusing on the Center’s exhibition, “The Edgeless School: Design for Learning.” CFAF will also be hosting a panel in conjunction with “The Edgeless School” and Archtober on 10.30.12, entitled Making a School: Principals and Architects in Conversation. For more information about the Center for Architecture Foundation’s upcoming family, K-12, adult, and exhibition programs, visit www.cfafoundation.org.

On 10.4.12, a diverse group of educators, design professionals, and the general public attended the Center for Architecture Foundation’s Guided Exhibition Tour of the Center for Architecture’s fall exhibitions, “The Edgeless School: Design for Learning” and “The Best School in the World: Seven Finnish Examples from the 21st Century.” Both exhibitions opened on 10.1.12, the inaugural date of Archtober, Architecture and Design month in New York City. Both exhibitions focus on innovative school design, including examples as local as Lower Manhattan and as far as Scandinavia.

Led by CFAF’s Lead Design Educator, Tim Hayduk, the tour began with an overview of “The Best School in the World” as a way to compare and contrast the two exhibitions. This exhibit not only presents handsome modern architectural settings, it frames several key reasons why Finnish schools have topped PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) and provides insight into the culture of Finnish Education. The nation holds education and teaching in very high regard, encourages life-long learning to all citizens in a non-competitive environment that does not emphasize testing as its go-to method of assessing student achievement.

The tour’s next stop was “The Edgeless School.” Curated by Tom Mellins with Edith Ackerman as Senior Research Consultant, this exhibit reconsiders the school in the age of “digital natives” where learning can happen virtually anywhere with the assistance of wireless technology. Teachers, too, take on a new role as facilitators in hands-on experiential learning. The audience was extremely interested in discussing the role technology will continue to play in learning. Video points of view by several contemporary educators present the importance of gaming, play and other non-traditional teaching methodologies. A salon-style discussion ensued in the Center for Architecture’s double height gallery space, where tour participants posed questions and shared experiences about the work presented in their professional lives.

STUDIOS Architecture, working with school administrators from Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua, NY, attended a private tour of the exhibitions, also led by Tim Hayduk. The Chappaqua Central School District received a grant from the Chappaqua School Foundation for Studios to prepare a feasibility study and concept design for a state-of-the-art Learning Commons at Greeley. Their visit was an opportunity to study the two exhibitions, serving as a resource for schools looking to expand or change their physical plant to address technology and the change that it continuously brings.

CFAF will reprise its Guided Exhibition Tour of The Edgeless School on 11.16.12 from 12:00 – 1:00pm, and on 1.7.13 from 6:00 – 7:30 pm. The tour will also include a look at “Building Connections 2012,” CFAF’s annual exhibition of K-12 student design work, which opens on 11.15.12. For more information and to register, please visit www.cfafoundation.org.