We started with a basic introduction to architecture. The students were asked what they thought an architect was and what architects do.
The answers they came up with:With these suggestions we listed the many possible things architects design. This also brought up the topic of related professions: Landscape Architecture, Urban & City Planning, Interior Design
Then we discussed how architects design by creating sketches and doing drawings that a contractor could then use to build the building.
We discussed what plans and elevations were. A plan view of the classroom example went as follows: If you were to take a huge saw and slice through the walls of the room and remove the top and you could stand way above and look down on the room that would be a plan view. The elevation of a building is what you see when you stand outside the building and look straight at it.
I drew a plan of the classroom on the blackboard while the students watched so they could see where the closets were, the doors, the windows, etc. Then I drew the furniture on the plan.
We handed out a plan activity which had a plan of a small house drawn on the handout. The students were asked to identify the largest room, the smallest room, to label the rooms, to count the number of exterior doors, the number of interior doors, the different types of doors, to determine how wide the staircase was and to draw furniture on the plan. They were given drawings of scale furniture in plan to use as guides.
Conference Room conversations during the project.| Conference Room |
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