There's a dark little joke exchanged by educators with a dissident streak:

Rip Van Winkle awakens in the 21st century after a hundred-year snooze and

is, of course, utterly bewildered by what he

sees.

Men and women dash about, talking to small

metal devices pinned to their ears. Young people

sit at home on sofas, moving miniature athletes

around on electronic screens.

Older folk defy death and disability with

metronomes in their chests and with hips made of metal and

plastic. Airports, hospitals, shopping malls--every

place Rip goes just baffles him.

But when he finally walks into a schoolroom, the old man knows exactly where he is. "This is a school,"

he declares. "We used to have these back in 1907. Only now the blackboards

are white."

Milton-Freewater, let’s have a discussion about

the future of our schools…

How can we design schools for a future that

we can’t possibly predict?

Image: MattandBekah.com

media centers?

School: Cass Technical High School, DetroitImage: DesignShare.com

music rooms?

School: Celentano Museum Academy, New Haven, ConnecticutImage: DesignShare.com

social areas?

School: High Tech High International,San Diego, California

Image: DesignShare.com

outdoor classrooms?

School: Three Mile Creek Elementary, Perry, UtahImage: DesignShare.com

open ceilings?

School: Celentano Museum Academy, New Haven, Connecticut

Image: DesignShare.com

green spaces indoors?

School: Universidad de Monterrey: Preparatoia Unidad Valle Alto,Monterrey, N.L., MexicoImage: DesignShare.com

creative architecture?

School: Georgetown South Child Development and Community Center,Manassas, VirginiaImage: DesignShare.com

early childhood education?

School: Georgetown South Child Development and Community Center,Manassas, VirginiaImage: DesignShare.com

no chairs

?

Image: DesignShare.com

auditoriums?

School: New Saline High School, Saline MichiganImage: DesignShare.com

colors?

School: Stittsville Public School, Stittsville, Ontario, CanadaImage: DesignShare.com

computer labs?

School: Estrella Mountain Community College, Avondale, ArizonaImage: DesignShare.com

balconies?

School: Gwinnett University Center, Lawrencevilla, Georgia

Image: DesignShare.com

display cases?

School: Kennewick Elementary SchoolKennebunk, MaineImage: DesignShare.com

cave seating?

School: St. Stephen’s School,Algester, Queensland, AustraliaImage: DesignShare.com

round buildings?

School: Gwinnett University Center, Lawrenceville, GeorgiaImage: DesignShare.com

facilities open to the public?

School: Little Village Lawndale High School, ChicagoImage: DesignShare.com

galleries for student work?

School: Galef Center for Fine ArtsLos Angeles, CaliforniaImage: DesignShare.com

flexible furniture?

School: Estrella Mountain Community College, Avondale, ArizonaImage: DesignShare.com

small group meeting spaces?

School: Cary Grove High School,Cary, Illinois

Image: DesignShare.com

hallways as classroom spaces?

School: Pistorius-Schule, Herbrechtingen, GermanyImage: DesignShare.com

buildings on a hill?

School: Hachoresch Elementary School, Zirchron Ya’acov, IsraelImage: DesignShare.com

learning centers?

School: Three Mile Creek Elementary, Perry, UtahImage: DesignShare.com

lobbies?

School: West Haven Elementary School,West Haven, Utah

Image: DesignShare.com

multipurpose rooms?

School: West Haven Elementary School,West Haven, UtahImage: DesignShare.com

alternative sports?

School: Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High SchoolImage: DesignShare.com

courtyards?

School: La Cañada High School, CaliforniaImage: DesignShare.com

non-traditional angles?

School: Perspectives Charter School, ChicagoImage: DesignShare.com

glass walls?

School: Nus High School ofMathematics and Science,

SingaporeImage: DesignShare.com

outdoor study areas?

School: Chung Cheng High School, SingaporeImage: DesignShare.com

modern playgrounds?

School: Suzhou Singapore International School, Suzhou, ChinaImage: DesignShare.com

rooftops?

School: Gwinnett University Center, GeorgiaImage: DesignShare.com

production studios?

School: Cambridge Media Arts School, Cambridge, MassachutsettsImage: DesignShare.com

collaboration areas?

School: Alpine Prototype Middle School, Alpine/Lehi, UtahImage: DesignShare.com

skylights?

School: Reim Elementary School, IsraelImage: DesignShare.com

faculty work areas?

School: Estrella Mountain Community College, Avondale, ArizonaImage: DesignShare.com

classrooms on

wheels?

Image: DesignShare.com

exposed architecture?

School: Pistorius-Schule, Herbrechtingen, GermanyImage: DesignShare.com

greenhouses?

School: IslandWood: A School in the WoodsBainbridge Island, WashingtonImage: DesignShare.com

incorporating old growth?

School: Paschalisschool, The Hague, NetherlandsImage: DesignShare.com

indoor play structures?

School: Spruce Street Nursery School, BostonImage: DesignShare.com

cultural learnin

g spaces

?

School: Bronx Charter School for the ArtsImage: DesignShare.com

life-skills areas?

School: Spruce Street Nursery School, BostonImage: DesignShare.com

fitness centers?

School: Cass Technical High School, Detroit

Image: DesignShare.com

outdoor amphitheaters?

School: Nan Hua Secondary SchoolSingaporeImage: DesignShare.com

playgrounds as

learning tools?

School: PS 40 M and PS 33 M,Long Island City, New YorkImage: DesignShare.com

reading rooms?

School: PS1/Bergen School, New York, New YorkImage: DesignShare.com

reception desks?

School: Keane Children’s Center/Charlestown Boys & Girls ClubCharlestown, MassachusettsImage: DesignShare.com

buildings as

educational tools?

School: Warren Skaaren EnvironmentalLearning Center at Westcave Preserve

Dripping Springs, TexasImage: DesignShare.com

science labs?

School: Romeo Engineering & Technology CenterRomeo, Michigan

Image: DesignShare.com

solar panels?

School: Heritage Middle School,Wake Forest, North Carolina

Image: DesignShare.com

sports fields?

School: Oakwell Park, Napoleon, OhioImage: NapoleonOhio.cc

technology in the

hallways?

School: Hackberry Elementary School,Frisco, Texas

Image: DesignShare.com

activity spaces?

School: PS1/Bergen School, New York, New YorkImage: DesignShare.com

ecology areas?

School: Missouri Dept of ConservationDiscovery Center

Kansas City, MissouriImage: DesignShare.com

conference rooms?

School: High Tech High International,San Diego, CaliforniaImage: DesignShare.com

“We must be the change we wish to see in the

world.”

-Gandhi

Pictures

© DesignShare.com

Music

© James Horner, Braveheart

Presentation

Matt Horne

be the change…