
In 2010, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) held a design competition for a flexible solution to replace portable buildings across the district, and HMC Architects accepted the challenge. The district asked them to ignore their standards and put an emphasis on an ideas-based approach. They wanted creative, progressive responses to their problem, not dressed-up modular buildings. They challenged the traditional box shape of the classroom by looking at how the room is used and how it is currently under utilized. Although their design solution, which they named Flex, did not win the competition, their end product is a portable classroom solution that can be used at any school, with hope that their design can inspire other school districts to think differently when it comes to portable classrooms. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Before they could begin brainstorming design solutions for the competition, they dove into some research about teaching philosophies. The future of teaching is becoming more and more about tailored individual instruction, self-guided instruction, and group learning activities. Socrates believed in enabling students to think for themselves, rather than filling their heads with “right” answers. He regularly engaged his pupils in dialogues by responding to their questions with questions, instead of answers. This process, known as the Socratic Method, encourages divergent thinking rather than convergent. Students are rearranged to face each other in the classroom, and are given opportunities to examine a common piece of work, whether it is in the form of a novel, poem, art print, or piece of music. After studying the common piece, open-ended questions are posed. Open-ended questions allow students to think critically, analyze multiple meanings in text, and express ideas with clarity and confidence. Participants feel a certain degree of emotional safety when they understand that this format is based on dialogue and is not necessarily a debate.
