From: Ronn!Blankenship <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: The War on Schools Date: Sun, 09 Mar 2003 16:10:37 -0600
At 12:37 PM 3/9/03 -0500, Jon Gabriel wrote:
Of possible interest: when NY's Stuyvesant High School planned their new building in Battery Park City (late '80's), they did it themselves, with minimal architect consultation. Here's how they did it: the Drafting department designed the shell of the building based on the space and acreage available. Drafting is/was a required course at Stuyvesant for all Sophmores.
<snip>
I recall getting a few strange looks from visitors who saw the tech sergeant who was the head of the drafting department sitting at the front desk while behind him, slaving over a drawing table, was someone wearing lieutenant's bars . . . ;-)
*grin*
I took a year of drafting. Taught me a great deal about perspective and dimensional accuracy.
Every Sophmore was given a room's dimensions and told: 'make a science lab', or 'make a gymnasium', or 'design an auditorium'. The teachers revamped the students' ideas into feasible and affordable specs and drew up blueprints for the builders.
I suspect that in many places that would not work due to requirements that the designers of public buildings are required to be licensed professional architects (or whatever the proper designation is). Did they perhaps get around any such requirements because the teachers had the proper qualifications, so for "official" purposes theirs were the only names on the blueprints?
I don't know the answer to this, but from what I understand, the teachers used the student designs as a foundation or starting point (pardon the pun) for the final product. (Students wouldn't be experts at wiring and plumbing, after all.) Most likely theirs were the only names on the final blueprints. When I took drafting, both of my teachers were full-fledged architects. I don't know if this would still be the case today.
:)
Jon
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