Jewboi

Connecting life

I believe there are two fundamental questions that need to be addressed with a new school. The first, how can one approach the symbiosis of art, architecture, and business? The second, how can a school with such a unique set of assets best work with the community in order to become even more successful?

In order to properly convey the potentials of the connections inside the school and city five principles can be elaborated upon; Permeability, Harmony, Imagination, Diversity, and Adaptability; PHIDA.

Permeability

Clarity and ease of connection is key in an under-bridge culture spanning scales from stadium to gallery, public plaza to classrooms. Pedestrian paths flow East from the transit center and avenue over parking and services directly into many levels of the school. Connections between the departments inside the school and the public create an inviting transparency that will foster interaction in the neighborhood and beyond.

Harmony

Space planning of the school emphasizes two opposite but necessary characteristics of a new school. These traits are the solemn research oriented spaces needed in any academic environment and the more bohemian diverse milieu that fosters interaction. The latter of the two can be thought of as a mixing of Ray Oldenburg’s “third place” a public forum, studios and galleries. The combination between these two realities make it possible for both research and innovation in a lively but controlled atmosphere that all have potential to interact with.

Imagination

Rem Koolhaas posed that shopping is the new public space. People are attracted to places that offer excitement and activity partly due to our inherent curiosity and partly to our want to ‘see and be seen’. Typical shopping appeals initially to the former but mostly to the latter. If shopping continuously stimulates our curiosity we’re likely to be more actively engaged. An invitation to the latest happenings in an experimental school will then benefit all parties involved. The public is more active in the processes within the school thereby creating a stronger link to community; the school benefits from the public interaction by capitalizing on chance encounters, greater community support, and diverse connections between students, faculty, and local businesses. Imagination is the catalyst in this dynamic neighborhood.

Diversity

Architecture, art, and business are combined inside the Sandnes School of Design to capitalize on the benefits of each profession. Students who go through the program may major in anyone of the departments, and through interdisciplinary coursework and opportunities in the community, they emerge with an understanding of how to design, produce, and market their ideas.

Adaptability

In a context defined by massive changes in scale, a multiplicity of options is always available to students, visitors, and the community. The Sandnes School of Design offers direct connection to sporting events, intimate dining, shopping and leisure and invigorates the minds of students, faculty, and visitors. To reiterate Richard Florida’s point, “[t]he street buzz is right nearby if you want it, but you can also retreat to your home or other quiet place, or go into and urban park, or even set out for the country.” People in Sandnes can chose to visit the wealth of knowledge and excitement that is the the neighborhood surrounding the Sandnes School of Design, but more importantly, that have the opportunity to help shape its future, thereby shaping their own.

When one thinks of a great city, more often then not it that city includes a university. We can also look at the assets that an educational facility offers—research and developement, young and eager people, monetary power, and a respected voice in the community. Rowland Atkinson and Hazel Easthope explore “the roles of universities in promoting economic development tied to a creative economy agenda” in their paper, The Creative Class in Utero?.

http://www.atypon-link.com/ALEX/doi/pdf/10.2148/benv.34.3.307

So, I’m in search of a way to make connections more readily available between not only facets of the educational milieu, but also with the surrounding community.

We are now realizing that higher education has more of an impact than just the capital generated by students, but how do we exploit a university’s atmosphere to create an even more efficient use of creativity and talent…?