More of This, Less of That (In Our Built Environment)

In this column I will give examples of accomplishments I would like to see more of, and examples of monstrosities I would like to see less of. The "Less of That' pieces will keep the subject at a distance, but in the 'More of This' pieces I will place the subject in my hand and examine it to see how it was accomplished, what inspirations lie underneath, and I will propose how we can complete more similar projects.

More of This

Stebbins High School, Riverside, Ohio

What's so special about this high school? It's a great example of neo-classic design. I stumbled upon this architectural gem after taking an exit off of Interstate Route 70 East in search of a bathroom. The local highway, Route 202 I believe, took me several miles south---more miles than my bladder appreciated I might add---but the minor suffering was well-rewarded when I saw this beautiful structure as I pulled into a McDonald's. Given its location on a very bland commercial highway, it stands out like a diamond in the rough. The school was built in the 1950s, but from what I could gather, it seems like the new neo-classic addition was finished in 2005. I love it because it shows how our high schools don't have to follow the modernist-style framework. They don't have to be built for mere efficiency, like so many buildings are in my area of New Jersey.

I wouldn't have ever noticed the structure if not for its location, though. So many developers these days conform to the environment. They do what has proved to work, what is most likely to make them a profit. As a result, if the environment is already filled with bland buildings, no one is going to risk building anything different or better.

In the modern architectural landscape, a neo-classic high school in plain site on a commercial highway makes no sense. It just doesn't fit in. But something about that fact makes me think it was intentional. The building demands attention. When a structure demands attention, we are compelled to reflect on the significance of what it represents. We naturally engage more in our environment.

West End of Southern Regional High School, Stafford, NJ

Photo courtesy of clubs.bluesombrero.com/

Stebbins High School in Ohio got me thinking of the local high school down the road from me. Most of it is actually ugly, but the west end, tucked away from Route 9, has an impressive design. The Design Collaborative website described this project of theirs:

This project constructed a new 150,000 square foot facility for grades 11 & 12 and renovated an existing 175,000 square foot facility for grades 9 & 10. In addition, a new administrative complex and athletic facilities were constructed on the site

Photo courtesy of The Design Collaborative Architects and Planners

The large library lets in ample light and gives students an inspiring spacious environment in which to study.

The pitched roofs and unique shape give the building character. The way the building juts out at certain points creates partially enclosed spaces that provide a sense of openness and belonging, like with courtyards and plazas in traditional urban centers.

Less of This

Southern Regional High School, East End

That same high school, though, has a very boring other half. Seen here from Route 9, there's a large lawn in front of the school that separates the building from the rest of the community. There are too few windows, and even those provided are too small. The roofs are flat, which actually causes several logistical problems. Treetops and mountaintops are rarely flat because nature knows how to conform to the environment. Flat rooftops collect more precipitation, more leaves, more bird droppings, more debris, and less sunlight than pitched roofs. The shapes of the structures are bland, base and box-like. It looks more like a prison than a school.

Barnegat High School, NJ

Photo courtesy of Homes.com

Just down the road, we have a building of similar influence: Barnegat High School. The far left portion has no windows at all. It could be a power plant, I don't know. The octagonal center resembles the Pentagon. In fact, the whole structure resembles a military base, which is fine if you're looking to drill kids into submission like soldiers preparing for war.

Reflection

Schools are hearths of learning and should be designed as such. If we're going to take kids away from home and insist that they learn in a more public environment amid a larger body of kids their age, the least we could do is make them feel more at home and less like they're going to the office. That is, of course, unless that's exactly what kind of life our schools are preparing kids to enter. Hmm ....

Is that why schools are so often designed like lifeless office buildings? Are we telling kids, "This is what the real world looks like, so better get used to it now', or do we just have a strange infatuation with simplistic architectural designs that shun traditional styles? Are we just hard-hearted toward kids, to make them work in these kinds of environments? Or are we just so naive that we think heartless buildings that ignore time-tested design principles actually resemble some kind of minimalist elegance? Or maybe we're both.

I agree that a building should be minimalistic. Every design element in traditional architecture serves a pragmatic purpose. Let's not mistake the practical aesthetics of our ancestors for pompous expressions of the aristocratic class. There is deep, useful value in culture. We're not robots. Our ability to reflect upon the world we live in, and imitate it through the design of our structures, is a mark of our intelligence and self-consciousness. Many cultures have discovered their identity in their architecture, because it so accurately portrayed the way they lived and where they lived.

Our built environment influences our attitude, and our attitude impacts our behavior. This is especially true for teenagers, who have yet to learn how to fully control their emotions. More beautifully designed schools could lead to more stable, more inspired youth. When we meet the deeper needs of young people, it frees their minds to think of bigger possibilities. When they are learning in an inspiring environment, they are exposed to the ideas and concepts in those environments. They start to see the connections between man and nature, whether consciously or subconsciously. They start to dig deeper, and join in the same quest of the greatest thinkers, explorers, scientists, and artists of our epic past---the quest for deeper meaning in life. Yes, I believe teens can get all of that from a more inspiring learning environments. I sure did.

And let's not be so abstract with that word anymore. By "environment", let's be honest about what we're talking about. It's not just our ecosystem and our social milieu. It's everything in our surroundings, which includes our built environment. We've gotten so caught up on the supposed impact our behavior has on our natural environment and our social environment, that we've forgotten how much we are affected by the types of environments we build for ourselves to live, work, play and learn within. It affects us more than we know, and it's time we acknowledge that.