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The Chicken or the Egg?
Which comes first? When creating spaces, does the spatial design come first or should there be a focus first on pedagogical direction? I was asked this question on Twitter and my response was neither. The post explains why, what should come first and how to create a spatial redesign program that maximizes your redesign effort.
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Biophilia and Biophilic Design
I saw a presentation on biophilic design by Terrapin Bright Green (see the publications section of their website) at EdSpaces in Milwaukee which was absolutely terrific. I didn't know anything about biophilia and have come to believe that biophilic design might be the difference between good design and high design. Biophilic design basically focuses the incorporation of the natural world into the design of the built environment. Get started learning more with this terrific resource, "14 Patterns of Biophilic Design."
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Featured Technology: Vizzlo
I'm a big fan of visual representations of information. Vizzlo has become an indispensable tool for me for creating high-impact visuals for my design work and professional development programs. The graphic to the left is an example of a radar graph that I use to help educators evaluate learning spaces. I can create this in amount five minutes of time in Vizzlo. There are currently 81 different visualization formats to take your presentations and documents to the next level.
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EdSpaces 2019: Best of Show
I saw some great school furniture at EdSpaces in Milwaukee. Here are my three top designs 1) Steelcase Flex (my favorite), 2) new additions to the KI Ruckus line, and 3) a great new table from Mein with a combination laminate surface that included 1/4 writable surface (see bottom image above). Upper left, Steelcase, Upper right, KI, bottom photo: Mein.
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For the Steelcase Flex collection (see page 20), I absolutely love the Flex markerboard solution. They come in 47" (8 lbs.) and 71" (10 lbs.) sizes which are fairly easy to move. They can be freestanding, placed in a wall rail, or in a stand. Think of these as big project prototyping boards that can be written on and with post-its, sketches, and drawings placed on them. If I was in charge of a library, I would have 20 of these that would be barcoded that students could check out and move around the library to create their own project design studio and then check back in.
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Learning Spaces Pilot Programs
A significant part of my practice involves the design of learning space pilot programs. If you are about to engage in spatial design/redesign, pilots provide a unique opportunity to test prototype designs for their applicability at scale. If you would like to know more about how I design these, or if you need design support for a pilot experience, please contact me.
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Spotlight on Improvement and Innovation
I'm constantly reading and thinking about improvement and innovation, how they are defined, and how the ideas apply to my work. It's interesting to consider the dynamic between the two. I think this article from Educause and 2Revolutions, Building a Culture of Innovation in Higher Education: Design & Practice for Leaders, captures the essence of the two ideas and their intersection. I especially like the graphic representation pictured to the left as a way to understand the complex interplay between the two concepts.
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New Portfolio Launches
I have redone the portfolio that represents my design work over the past five years. I'm incredibly proud of what I have accomplished in partnership with my clients and of the various designs that I have created that have helped schools realize a new landscape for teaching and learning. Download it and take a look!
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Learning Spaces Resource: Playbooks
I really like the concept of creating a learning spaces playbook around spatial change. There are a number of ways to go with this, but I generally create a first iteration of a playbook with my clients in association with a learning spaces pilot program. Think "missing instructional manual" here, composed of classroom management strategies, how to use furniture, and a variety of demo space layouts they can use to support a particular instructional methodology, etc. Playbooks should be thought of as a tool that collects institutional expertise over time, so I could see a digital form being very appropriate and useful as it could be updated easily. The goal here is to create a tool that can support professional development and effective space use. Another idea that is associated with a playbook is a "quick start guide" similar to those guides you get when you purchase a new printer, for example. The goal: here is how to get started in a few quick easy steps, and then its an easy transition into the more capable playbook.
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Upcoming DJD Events: With the emergence of the coronavirus, I won't be traveling anytime soon as all of my clients in and outside of education have shut down as a result of the impact of the virus. So, it's a time to finish my book on education and design (3 chapters to go!) and catch up on client project work. Hopefully, I'll be back up working with clients sometime in April...stay safe!
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Do you need help designing or redesigning your learning spaces? Contact me here. For more information about DJD, my services, or examples of my project work, see davidjakesdesigns.com
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