Starting Points

If this is the first time you've really considered architecture and the built environment (or the first time you've tried getting others to consider it), these are some of the things you'll need to start thinking about and discussing:

• How a building makes a person feel – do they like or dislike a certain building and why?

• How the building is made – does the construction look simple or does the building make you wonder how it was put together?

• The use of spaces/buildings – how do people use a particular space? Is the space easy/difficult to use? Can it be used in more than one way?

• The shape of buildings – why is a building shaped a certain way? Do they like or dislike its shape? How does the shape/scale of a building work in its environment/context?

• Sustainability/health – how does a building’s design affect the environment its in and the people who use it? How does it make people feel in terms of physical/emotional health? How does it use energy? How is it heated, how is it lit?

• Colours, textures, materials, light – how do these qualities affect a building’s look, use, atmosphere?

• The style of a building – is a building traditional/old-fashioned or contemporary and modern? Is it warm and welcoming or cold and industrial? How do you create the style of a building?

• The people who use a space – do different people have different needs when it comes to the spaces they use? How can the same space accommodate people of different ages with different needs or interests?


Take a look at the buildings around you and consider some of these points. Also take a look at some of the sites listed in Other Useful Links (--->) to find some architecture and design that you like and find some inspirations for your designs. If you find any other sites worth looking at, or if you've been taking photos of the architecture around you, please send it to us so we can share it on the blog :)

About A Space for Learning

A Space for Learning is a design competition initiated by the Irish Architecture Foundation to challenge current thinking on school design, creating an opportunity for architects to collaborate with the end-users of educational spaces -the students.

This is a very important project for the IAF, whose role is to raise awareness about the value of architecture and is a priority within our education programme.

The project works as an ideas competition in two stages and involves a creative collaboration between architects and schools. Architects will meet with Transition Year students from a school of their choice, facilitating the students’ input into the design of “a space for learning”. The open brief invites a creative response to the concept.

Designs are submitted for selection to a panel. Winning teams will receive funding to develop their design for exhibition during April/May 2010. The IAF hope to tour this exhibition in late 2010 and run a series of public talks in relation to the exhibition.

A Space for Learning is funded through the Environment Fund of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

Read more on the discussion about design for education here and take part in the poll on the influence of schools design here.

Welcome to our blog!

As part of A Space for Learning, the Education team at the Irish Architecture Foundation has set up a blog as a way of providing resources for participants. The blog is also an opportunity for architects, teachers and students to share their experiences of the project, and we hope you and the students will take the opportunity provide write-ups, photos, sketches, source material, videos and much more as you go through the project. Blog content can be easily derived from the workshops or any other classes that the schools may be linking to the project. It could also come in the form of any personal reports or log books that students may be required to write as part of the Transition Year programme. Come and visit to find useful links, articles and images and see what other schools and architects are up to. If any participants have any blog content, you can email it to aideen@architecturefoundation.ie or education@architecturefoundation.ie and we will put it online for you!