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 Capitol 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:

Thursday, April 20th, 5:30 pm
Classroom Design: Patterns for Promoting Learning
As we move into the 21st Century, our learning environments need to be re-conceptualized from the assembly line models that evolved during the Industrial Revolution. Learning environments are no longer places in which teachers are the dispensers of knowledge, but rather, learning environments must develop into places where students are able to construct knowledge for themselves as they work through problems with others. Since the educational environments are becoming more student-centered, as designers, we need to consider the kinds of places that support the numerous ways in which students of all ages acquire and share their learning with one another.

Join Peter C. Lippman, Senior Associate with Body-Lawson Associates, past Chair of the AIANY Chapter Committee on Architecture for Education and author of articles on the design of learning environments (for example: http://www.designshare.com/articles/read.asp?apg=1021) for a presentation that will: describe research on the various ways in which we learn; examine research on problem-based learning environments that ground these concepts about how learning occurs; analyze these concepts in relationship to the physical environments of schools; and provide patterns of design that enable this research to be integrated into the design of school environments.

Location: Office of EE&K Architects, 888 16th Street, NW (at I Street, NW), Suite 800
Reservations: sodonnell@eekarchitects.com or 202.460.7866

Thursday, May 25th 5:30 pm
Tour AU’s New Katzen Arts Center

American University’s new Katzen Arts Center brings all the visual and performing arts programs at AU into one 130,000 square foot building.  Designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration in the arts, the new center provides state-of-the-art instructional, exhibition, and performance space for all the arts disciplines.  The Center features an extraordinary 30,000 square foot art museum with a variety of gallery spaces for exhibition of exciting contemporary art from the nation's capital region and the world, along with AU's own Watkins Collection and the collection of Cyrus and Myrtle Katzen.

Its recent AIA/DC Award Citation states: “The…Katzen Arts Center unites all of American University’s facilities for creating, displaying, and performing art under one roof.  While the visual and performing arts often share space, rarely do the studios that produce art coexist on the same premises. Situated along Massachusetts Avenue on a long, narrow site abutting Ward Circle—one of the highest points in the nation’s capital—the Center forms a cultural bridge between the University and the surrounding neighborhood.”  

We will meet in the Rotunda at 5:30 pm.  Parking is free in the Katzen Garage after 5pm.  Visit http://www.american.edu/academic.depts/cas/katzen/about.cfm for directions and additional information. Reservations: sodonnell@eekarchitects.com or 202.460.7866

Thursday, June 15th, 5:30 pm
Michael Graves Designs a Village for St. Coletta
In 2001, St. Coletta of Greater Washington – an organization dedicated to the education of children and adults with mental retardation and autism (see www.stcoletta.org) - began searching for a site in the District of Columbia to build a new, state of the art school that would enable them to expand their services and provide a location closer to the families that they currently serve. After selecting a readily accessible and prominent site in southeast Washington, St. Coletta secured the services of internationally renowned architect, Michael Graves (www.michaelgraves.com).

Capturing the spirit of their mission and the school’s children, Mr. Graves designed a 99,000 square foot facility that will serve as a national model for the delivery of special education services. Reducing the scale of the school to better serve the students and the neighborhood, Mr. Graves developed a village-like composition that features a 9,000 square foot “village green,” that connects a series of smaller schools or houses within the larger building. A community room with a catering kitchen and a full court gymnasium will also provide much needed community amenities that will make the school a hub of community life in DC’s thriving Hill East neighborhood.

Tour the new school with us as it prepares to open its doors.

Location: Meet in the parking lot on the side of the building which is located at the corner of Independence Avenue and 19th Streets, SE
Reservations: sodonnell@eekarchitects.com or 202.460.7866

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: 202-777-0419
Email: sodonnell@eekarchitects.com