Recently at SAS we’ve been discussing how to design collaborative workspaces for students in our hallways and various alcoves. We’ve already come up with a number of ideas, but today I thought I’d see what would happen if I followed student patterns instead of trying to form or design spaces for creative collaboration. A group of ten 7th graders chose to cluster around a charging station, despite the fact that there was absolutely no furniture there. The need for just a few of them to remain socially in the group so they didn’t run out of power appeared to completely outweigh anyone’s desire for comfort.
I placed some Lummel chairs, beanbags and cushions in their chosen workspace, and the group naturally started to restructure itself for comfort and workability. Due to the fact that all of the ‘furniture’ was completely portable, four of the students then moved down the hall with their chairs so that they could plug into a different charging station in a more ‘workable’ configuration.
Yesterday afternoon I noticed a high school student searching through an area that has comfortable sofas – but he couldn’t locate any power. He moved on, and a comfortable place to sit was just… an empty space. Ultimately, the function and the form are going to go hand-in-hand when we either intentionally or unintentionally set up zones for students to work.
