Discussion
Use the Tour Your School guide by the Brooklyn Historical Society to get students started in thinking about the design of their school. When students survey the school have them consider the hallways of the building. Discuss types of interaction that students and teachers have in hallways. Show students examples of interior environments. How do the architects and designers use color and form to affect the environment?
Application
Students will consider how they might change the climate of the school by designing a temporary installation for a hallway or series of hallways. Would they add art or color to the walls? Would they create seating? Also have them think about how they could use materials such as fabric, or create texture and mass by repeating the use of everyday objects such as cups, or toilet paper rolls or other found objects. Students can create an entire environment for a hallway that changes the user’s experience of being in school. Have students also create a survey and make observations about how the environment actually affected the user’s experience.