Week 4 — Art Activity — Architecture & Urban Planning
Since I am currently on campus, I can think of multiple ways to redesign CSULB to make it much more useful during the pandemic.
Explain your design. What choices did you make? What issues and needs did you consider? How did you reach your solutions?
I decided to draw a basic layout of campus as well as the basic design of a classroom. Campus would consist of multiple classrooms, 2 residence halls, a dining hall, a large quad, 20 foot wide sidewalks, a library, and some important buildings. Some of the classrooms would be designed similar to a movie theater, with seats 6 feet apart and a large screen in the front that the professor could project to. There would also be a set of drive-in classrooms where students could remain in their cars while listening and watching the lecture. The residence halls would be 3 stories tall and consist of single rooms with 6–8 students sharing a bathroom. The dining hall would only be for getting food with different options of what food to purchase. The quad would have 4 different ways for students to interact with others while remaining social distanced. One part of the quad would be grass and trees with lines marked out to create 8 foot by 8 foot squares. Each student would be in one square, allowing them to relax on the lawn near others while still being safe in their square. Another part would be study bubbles, which would basically be air tight compartments students could use. Most of the walls would be glass so students would be able to see the other students around them. The third part would be single tables in 8 foot by 8 foot squares. Once again, students could sit at their own table and still talk and interact with other students safely. The final part of the quad would consist of large tables where multiple students can sit still 6 feet apart. These would be used for safe group collaborations when necessary. The 20 foot wide sidewalks would be split down the middle, each side traveling in the opposite direction. Students would be able to remain social distanced while traveling around campus. The library would only be for the books and other resources that can’t be found in a digital format. The 2nd and 3rd stories would have offices and meeting rooms for certain services that can’t be handled digitally. Sports and extra curriculars would be located off campus, and any services that can be handled online would be.
How does your design address Education in the Internet Century?
Any service that doesn’t need an inperson aspect would be online. Technology and the internet would also allow for many classes to be completed online. Other classes would be inperson but with digital aspects to make it easier to stay safe. My design still allows for inperson classes and interaction. Despite us being in the internet century, some students still need inperson aspects to get what they need out of college.
How does your design address Education in the Age of Coronavirus?
Most of my design has to do with changes that would be made to make life on campus more possible during the age of coronavirus. Social distanced ways of interaction in the quad, single dorms, wider walkways, and most of the services being online will keep as many people off campus as possible. However, the people that need to be on campus will still be able to with some more safety measures.
