Design prototypes
of learning spaces.
Developed with Kneeler Design Architects as animated collages — four typologies that cover most of how students actually use a campus. Each prototype is a container for the Seven Principles, not a fixed design.
Active and collaborative
The generative, didactic, (semi-)permanent space. Tables on wheels, writable walls, floor-based power, a range of display surfaces. Equally fit for a lecture, for group work, or for a studio crit. Blending and Repurposing do most of the work here.
Outdoor
The social, semi-permanent, reformable space. A place between formal teaching sessions: protected from weather, with power, Wi-Fi and comfortable seating, and close to food. Affordances and Comfort matter most.
Eddy
The transient space — a corridor widening, a landing, a courtyard corner — where students pause between classes, collaborate briefly, and move on. Flow is the defining principle: the space supports short, fluid use rather than long occupation.
Private
The quiet, reflective, individual space. Single-person nooks with power and writing surfaces; bookable pods; reading rooms. Equity and Comfort — every student needs access to a cave somewhere on campus.
Videos from the project
Transcript
My name is Coral and I am studying business in Australia. It is exciting studying in another country, though I feel a lot of pressure to do well — my family overseas has made big sacrifices to enable me to be here. I am really lucky to be sharing a house with Felicity, who is now one of my best friends. She has taught me a lot about Australia.
Today I start my day rather late with a coffee and begin by making use of on-line forums for students to share their ideas. For me this is great as it allows me to communicate to other student without making the trip into university.
However with tomorrow's finance test, I still need to study the old fashion way and hit the text books and look at some practice exams on the computer before I go to work.
At work, I use a point-of-sale system to look up products — today the scanner isn't working properly — which is really annoying.
Time to go home and rest up for the test tomorrow.
It's a new day — I started today with the finance test which I think I have done pretty well on, now I am at the library studying for the upcoming exams. I've brought my mobile with me in case my parents call from overseas. The library provides lots of computers, which I am going to use to check my email just in case the lecturer sends out any hints for the exam.
My life in Australia is very busy — so I make use of all the technology available to make sure I keep on top of things. My phone and laptop are crucial for studying and keeping in touch with home, and organising my social life here! The University provides a lot of resources for my subjects online, I am very grateful that I can access these at home and in the library — it adds variety to the long study days!
Why four, and why these?
The prototypes came out of two parallel influences. Apple's work with Joseph Campbell's metaphors gave the team Campfire / Watering Hole / Cave / Mountaintop. But the team felt those metaphors were distinctively North American. For an Australian context, they reached for landscape metaphors with time built in — the Coast, Eddies, Plateaus — in which students move purposefully, but not predictably, across meaningful ground.
The four prototypes sit at the intersection of both vocabularies. They're not meant to be copied verbatim. They're meant to give designers a starting shape for each kind of use, which can then be adapted to local climate, culture and budget.