I have been thinking alot about design lately. Not in the classical sense, but rather in regards to how social business intersects with physical design. We challenge our projects constantly, to deliver a high quality design, community accessibility and importantly connectivity. And I think much of the best design now and importantly into the future will be focused on the intersection of these elements. Surprisingly, many people think community accessibility requires a low quality folksy atmosphere and connectivity means brochures at the door. The argument, to substantiate this view, follows that high design is not appropriate for engaging with economically challenging areas. I think this viewpoint is myopic.
Interestingly, glamorous malls and mega shops attract much of our communities of interest. Why is it then, that building design at the geographic heart of the community is always pushed or allowed to be so much less? am not advocating shopping malls in the heart of our communities; I am advocating that design, in the context of communities and regeneration, move beyond a patronizing assumption around mediocrity as the way to achieve accessibility.
One of the biggest opportunities at the moment is the design of schools. Schools at the heart of the community. Places for engaging everyone. Encouragingly, the leaders in Leeds are thinking about this and attempting to change the school paradigm from that place you learn to the hub of the community. These leaders are opening the doors to afternoon and night time use by the community (novel idea, huh), but they are stopping short of moving the paradigm further. Why can’t a school have a public cafe? Why not shops? Why not art gallery? Why not office units? Doctor’s surgery?
Something is stopping this progress. I am not sure what it is. Maybe it is not one thing, because when I pose the question I get responses like health and safety, commercialism, budgets. I think these are just excuses. Take health and safety; it is OK for kids to spend 5 hours a day unsupervised or otherwise in public malls or parks where surely pedophiles and other miscreants lurk; but it’s not OK to build a public environment in a custodial environment like a school? Furthermore, if we have the school as a hub, wouldn’t learning become part of the culture instead of that thing you do when you are young?
We are attempting to push the envelope on community space and embarking on a school paradigm shift. I am not sure how long it will be before this kind of thinking takes hold, but I am sure that at the intersection of high quality design, accessibility, and connectivity are smart spaces (buildings, parks, or shopfronts) that will lift aspirations and create opportunities for those living in economically challenged areas of the UK.
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