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 Conversations  DesignShare is so pleased to release the results of our 2007 International Awards Program. This year there are 4 Honor Awards (4 in 2006), 7 Merit Awards (9 in 2006), 4 Citation Awards (15 in 2006) and 13 Recognized Value Awards (12 in 2006).
Special Thanks to all the Jurors. This was no easy task. Thanks for your commitment to the process. Also, Thanks to Christian Long for coordinating a successful awards program. Thanks to Peter Brown, AIA for writing the final commentary about the 2007 Awards. Thanks to all our Sponsors for your commitment to DesignShare and school design.
And finally, Thank you to all the submitters. You continue to raise the bar on school design. DesignShare’s vision is to be the place for all things related to school design and facilities. You willingness to share is essential to improving DesignShare and school design everywhere. We hope to see you back in 2008.
Read the 2007 Commentary
Case Study  “Denver School of Science and Technology: Sam Miller Interview”
DesignShare had the opportunity to sit down with klipp’s Sam Miller regarding the design of the Denver School of Science and Technology (DSST).
 After seeing him present this design scenario at a CEFPI conference and watching the “Great Schools by Design” video that highlighted this award-winning school, we sensed that there was much to learn from this unique project.
We were particularly intrigued by the ability for a school to truly live up to the “for the future” technology mantra that is so common in today’s design/education conversations, while also creating spaces that immediately allowed teachers and students to collaborate across the program. We think you’ll be impressed, too.
Case Study “Transforming learning spaces to personalise learning: Four months of Fountaineering”
by Tash Lee, Learning Researcher, Futurelab
March 2007
 “With current debates about what a 21st century education should look like, Fountaineers is showing that children and teachers have enormous scope to influence the reconfiguration of their buildings and outdoor spaces - and the ways in which they learn…
The Fountaineers project came to Futurelab from Sean McDougall of Stakeholder Design, through our 2006 Call for Ideas programme, which focused on ‘re-imagining learning spaces’. The focus of the project is the design and construction of programmable, interactive and intelligent water fountain, but the project is much more than that. The researchers, designers, owners and engineers of this fountain are the pupils and teachers of Luckwell Primary School in Bristol - all 220 of them! Through the design and decision making processes pupils (and staff) are not only learning about designing fountains, they are also learning how to work in teams, how to research and investigate, how to prototype and test things out.”
Book Excerpt “Tackling the Crime of School Design” - Book excerpt from Rena Upitis, former Dean of Education at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario; currently Professor of Arts Education at Queen’s University.
 “Is there a link between crime and schools?
Windowless concrete containers, surrounded by barbed wire fences - looking more like prisons than schools - can hardly be thought of as inviting environments for students. But buildings surrounded by barbed wire certainly bear cultural messages. This paper describes how architecture embeds cultural and educational values, and how schools often send messages about institutional life that are far from nurturing.
The paper includes examples from North America, Europe and Australia - such as a prison built in New South Wales that was converted to a high school, still in operation today. I also introduce three prominent educational approaches associated with early childhood - Montessori, Waldorf, and Reggio Emilia.”
Event “Spaces, Places and Future Learning” conference
1-2 November 2006
Rich Mix, London
by Jessica Pykett and Tash Lee, Futurelab
“This year’s Futurelab conference, held appropriately at Rich Mix in London, brought together a diverse gathering of teachers, policy makers, academics, designers, architects and IT developers to discuss the need to think imaginatively about the learning spaces of the future. The conference provided an opportunity to challenge our preconceptions of the environments in which we learn; to imagine learning taking place anywhere, in the school, home, work and community; and to reflect on the possibilities for transforming those learning spaces with innovative tools such as computer games and mobile, tangible and embedded technology.”
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Design Awards 2007 Design Awards Map Search DesignShare’s Interactive Map of Award-winning projects, plans, and teams in the world’s most comprehensive database of innovative learning environments.
Search the map for all projects by award type, category, year, country, state, and keywords. Powered by Google Maps technology.
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Sponsors and Collaborators DesignShare Blog Feel free to leave a comment on the blog. Also, if you have any suggestions for a potential entry, please send ideas to info@designshare.com.
Recent Blog Posts
Design Patterns  Explore the design patterns for 21st century schools based on the The Language of School Design by Nair & Fielding
Quotes Dr. Walther Hetzer, Founding Director, St. Gilgen International School, Austria: “DesignShare quickly became my primary resource in recognising and applying concepts of modern school (and community) development. The site is of equal interest to educators and architects and always has student learning as its philosopical core.”
Vincent Oles A.I.A., MHTN Architects, Salt Lake City, Utah: “I enjoy sharing your research articles and school plans with our local school district planning groups as a way to start lively dialogue! Keep up this tremendous service!”
Josef Fradkin, Director of Development, Chabad Hebrew Academy: “DesignShare is a critical resource for any development team seeking to make a difference in their students’ future learning environment. We have received a tremendous volume of inquiries by school boards from across the nation after winning a coveted DesignShare award.”
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