Archinect - News

How schools are adapting their architecture for enhanced student safety amid lack of gun control

2023-03-22T19:57:00-04:00

But now, instead of calling for fortified entrances and security features that can put students on edge, experts are calling for a more holistic approach – where architecture serves as a conduit for both physical security and for supporting students' mental health to prevent violence in the first place.

Responsive elements like magnet-locking classroom doors, “shadow zones”, and even bulletproof storm shelters have been popular design solutions for school districts such as Fruitport, Michigan, which just spent $48 million on a new building based on those and other, less visible concerns.

Architects must consider not only the immediate physical prevention of violence but also the positive impact on the psychological development of pupils their designs can have. This means the K-12 sector may be undergoing its largest change since the 1970s, when the movement towards large classrooms and open spaces engendered many of the challenges safety upgrade projects are tying to mitigate.

Earlier on Archinect: Designing around gun violence

"They have these hallways and lockers, but there's no place to hang out, no place to socialize," architect Rene Berndt, who sits on the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) board of directors, explained to NPR. "And so, we're trying our b...

A decade after the tragedy, SWA Group unveils memorial to Sandy Hook victims as a center of reflection

2022-11-14T15:23:00-05:00

Ten years removed from the tragic shooting that claimed the lives of 27 school children and teachers in Newtown, Connecticut, SWA Group has today officially unveiled a permanent memorial to the victims, called The Clearing, that will seek to heal the community, survivors, and family members still in search of justice in their tight-knit New England town.

Located on a five-acre parcel of donated land near the replacement for the now demolished former elementary school, the design for the memorial keys on three elements integrated into interconnected paths that bring visitors through a circuitry of woodlands, meadows, and a water feature intended to “honor the process of grieving and remembrance.”

Photo: Neil Landino

SWA says: “The Sandy Hook Memorial differs from other memorials in that it was publicly funded and completely community-led. It is also primarily landscape rather than a monument. Memorials are typically embedded in landscape rather than having landscape as the focus. The ...

National Building Museum welcomes back visitors with exhibitions from MASS Design Group and architectural photographer Alan Karchmer

2021-03-29T13:40:00-04:00

On March 15th Archinect reported the announcement of the National Building Museum's new Executive Director, Aileen Fuchs. As Covid-19 safety protocols continue to evolve and vaccine distribution continues, museums and other public institutions prepare to reopen their doors in the coming months.

Today, the Museum announced its reopening on April 9th after a 16-month closure. Interim Executive Director Brent Glass shared, "The National Building Museum is reopening with new leadership and an impressive lineup of exhibitions. We are delighted that the public can return to our home in the historic Pension Building and again experience the extraordinary Great Hall, one of Washington's most important interior spaces."

In addition to its ongoing exhibitions like House & Home, the Museum will showcase three new exhibitions that focus on relevant topics related to the built environment. The non-profit architecture firm, MASS Design Group, has continued to lead projects focusing on design jus...

Legislation seeks to create national design-focused school safety database

2019-09-25T12:45:00-04:00

The United States Senate has taken up consideration of The School Safety Clearinghouse Act, a measure that would create a centralized database holding information on school safety measures.

The federally funded and held archive would provide a vetted "resource where officials can find best practices for school security and design," according to Senator David Purdue of Georgia, one of the sponsors of the bill. According to the American Institute of Architects, who lobbied Congress on behalf of the bill, the legislation would provide state and local officials with "unbiased information for making their schools safer through design."

In a statement reported by The Hill, Senator Perdue added, "As an engineer by trade, I believe the first step to improving school security is addressing the structural safety of schools. Our bill would simply create a resource where state and local officials can find best practices for school security and design."

Information held within the database, wh...

Svigals + Partners to design a Memorial Garden in honor of victims of gun violence

2019-02-07T15:07:00-05:00

For New Haven school teacher Marlene Miller Pratt, whose son was shot and killed in 1998, the effort to build a memorial to victims of gun violence is about building a serene space to remember loved ones.

"We wanted to develop an area that was going to be beautiful, so that we wouldn't have to go to the cemetery to visit our children. Because when you go to the cemetery, it's so desolate," she told the park commission as she presented her pitch for a memorial garden back in September.

Pratt, and other concerned mothers in New Haven, Connecticut, have spent the past several years advocating for a place to honor those lost to gun violence through the beauty of nature, efforts for which are now paying off. Working with Urban Resources Initiative—a non-profit that helps to rejuvenate and renovate urban environments—the Lost Generation Memorial Garden could be open to the public as soon as this summer.

Designed with help from architecture and planning firm Svigals + Partners, the site ...

The NRA's design for "hardening" schools

2018-02-26T16:21:00-05:00

NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre offered schools his organization’s “free” support and guidance to protect themselves, saying that communities “must come together to implement the very best strategy to harden their schools.” President Donald Trump echoed the sentiment Thursday saying, “We have to harden our sites” to protect schools from gun violence [...] it’s worth revisiting exactly what the NRA means when it calls for measures to “harden” a school.

Here are a few architectural elements and design features the NRA recommends from its 2013 task force report for "hardening" schools.

A big fence
No trees
No parking lots
Entrapment areas
No windows
A door stop

Join the discussion asking: "Where are the designers, architects, and engineers in the debate on hardening school security through design?"

Reinventing school buildings for the age of mass shootings

2018-02-22T16:59:00-05:00

For architects, the challenge is balancing the need for additional security with design principles that foster a more nurturing educational environment for students. As architect Jim French explained, designers could apply the design methods used to keep prisons secure to schools, but that would hamper the experience for children.

Following the recent school shooting in Parkland, Fla. Jacob Passy reviews some of the ways that the design of schools is changing to address safety concerns.

Interestingly, at last night's CNN Town Hall Gun Debate, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel argued there are three things we need to do in America to prevent future tragedies; 1) we have to use CPTED (Crime prevention through environmental design) to make schools harder to penetrate 2) we need to empower law enforcement to help people with mental illness get the care they need and restrict them from owning guns 3) lastly and perhaps most importantly we do need gun control reform.

Of note, none of those three actions include President Trump's (and the NRA's) preferred option which is arming teachers.

Fast Co Design wonders, "Why Is There So Much Modern Architecture In The NRA’s New Ad?"

2017-07-05T15:13:00-04:00

For decades, authoritarian regimes have waged war on modern architecture and the philosophy it embodies. A new ad proves it’s still a target.

In an alarmingly threatening and dangerous ad, NRA attacks intellectualism (in its core sense) via modern architecture. This savage ad might not only target your profession and/or your education but also puts the average citizen in front of the barrel of a gun.

Designing around gun violence

2016-08-04T12:48:00-04:00

Our culture of fear has changed the role of architecture in the United States. In just 2016 alone, the country has seen 221 mass shootings, and we struggle to keep up with the stream of international terrorism attacks by groups like ISIS and Boko Haram. If you listen to the news for too long, every building we enter seems compromised, from malls and movie theaters to schools.

So while legislators falter over gun control laws, architects and building designers are working to rethink the concept of a safe space.

For more architectural responses to public health issues, check out these links: