* This article was originally posted on the Design Trust for Public Space blog, "I Heart Public Space" in May 2008.
On May 2nd, the Design Trust partnered with the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) and the Bushwick Academy of Urban Planning (AUP) to present a lesson on urban planning in Grand Army Plaza to the 9th Grade class at AUP. A small group of enthusiastic students represented their classmates during a two hour tour and workshop in the Plaza, taking photos, mapping important features, and interviewing local residents and stakeholders. They will report back to their peers about their findings and then use this information to review some of the entries in the Reinventing Grand Army Plaza Ideas Competition.
The goal of this lesson, developed by Leslie McBeth of the Design Trust and CUP staff, is to increase students' awareness of that each element of the spaces they use has been designed. They were encouraged to think about designing a space for how it is used and not just for how it looks; they gained insight into how designers/planners decide if a place meets the needs of community residents; and, they had the opportunity to evaluate appropriate recommendations for change.
Thank you to Rosten at CUP for organizing the day, Odin Cappello for taking the pictures, as well as all the local stakeholders that came out to the plaza to speak with the students.
Check back next week when we'll post about the students' progress in reviewing selected competition entries. We will also post a copy of the lesson plan and hope that it will be useful to other educators for similar projects. In the meantime, here are some photos and captions from the day in the plaza.
As student's crossed the road into the plaza, they became aware of pedestrian safety issues.
Stephanie Elson, Design Trust Director of Programs, points out some recent upgrades to the pedestrian spaces in the Plaza. Until last summer, the place where the group is standing was not raised above the road surface, but simply marked by paint. This improvement makes pedestrians feel safer, but the students still said they felt uneasy with all the traffic.
Students examine the pathway from the Arch to the entrance to Prospect Park.
As the students were asking questions about the beautiful Bailey Fountain, it suddenly turned on, for the first time this year! The fountain will remain on until November.
Some of the students interviewed community 'stakeholders' including a local high school teacher, a Rabbi, and a bicyclist, and member of the Grand Army Plaza Coalition.
The other half of the group did an orienteering exercise, mapping notable features of the Plaza's landscape including green space, hazards (such as the woman and the stroller below), pedestrian crosswalks, buildings and monuments.
Finally, the students regrouped in the Brooklyn Public Library to debrief and share their photographs of the space. They will use this information to present to their classmates and move forward with examining how professional designers propose to reinvent this grand public space
.
Stephanie Elson, Design Trust Director of Programs, points out some recent upgrades to the pedestrian spaces in the Plaza. Until last summer, the place where the group is standing was not raised above the road surface, but simply marked by paint. This improvement makes pedestrians feel safer, but the students still said they felt uneasy with all the traffic.
Students examine the pathway from the Arch to the entrance to Prospect Park.
As the students were asking questions about the beautiful Bailey Fountain, it suddenly turned on, for the first time this year! The fountain will remain on until November.
Some of the students interviewed community 'stakeholders' including a local high school teacher, a Rabbi, and a bicyclist, and member of the Grand Army Plaza Coalition.
The other half of the group did an orienteering exercise, mapping notable features of the Plaza's landscape including green space, hazards (such as the woman and the stroller below), pedestrian crosswalks, buildings and monuments.
Finally, the students regrouped in the Brooklyn Public Library to debrief and share their photographs of the space. They will use this information to present to their classmates and move forward with examining how professional designers propose to reinvent this grand public space
.