The objective of this assignment was to propose a modification to an existing stairway to make it safer as well as emotionally appealing.

Designing to support understanding relies heavily on Wayfinding. After visiting the Richardson Olmsted Complex and the Hotel Henry in Buffalo, the class assessed the wayfinding problems in the building. Based on research at the Complex last year, we know that the You Are Here (YAH) maps are a key problem area. The assignment was thus to develop improved prototypes for the Hotel Henry’s YAH maps.

In the field of education active learning has received a lot of research attention lately as educators at the primary, secondary and higher education levels seek alternatives to lecture style pedagogies. Active learning requires a different environment than the lecture style classroom. Studio education is a form of active learning that has long utilized a “flipped classroom” approach. But historically, the studio itself has not received research scrutiny. Architecture and design schools continue to build and operate studios that are essentially just like those built centuries ago. Since the studio is a form of active learning, recent research could offer some ideas for improving the studio environment.

A basic question is how studios should be designed to support an optimal active learning approach? Second, how can the design address differences in abilities, cultural background, and gender? A third major question is how technology may provide opportunities and demands in the near future that should be addressed in the current design project? Finally, as we all know, studio education is very stressful at times. Time pressures lead to unhealthy practices like reduced sleep and poor nutrition. Can the studio environment be designed to reduce this stress and allow higher levels of performance while at the same time promoting health behaviors?

In particular, how can ambient environments (acoustics, thermal environment, illumination) be designed to be comfortable for intensive work over long hours and over the course of the year as the climate varies?

Universal design is about designing for people. But, architectural design and design communications focus on drawing and modeling buildings and spaces. Thus, despite a designer’s efforts to design with people in mind, they usually have difficulty showing how a design actually fulfills the needs and desires of building users because their attention is focused on the building itself. Without better representation of how people use buildings, it is also difficult for the client and the public to understand how a building is addressing their needs. The most challenging experiences to communicate are those that are invisible  in typical architectural drawings – illumination, acoustics, thermal comfort, mobility challenges, emotions.