Designing Pavilions

Our pilot project for children at Furzedown Primary School, in London SW17 engaged them in a hands-on project where they designed and built their own pavilions.  Guided (but not instructed) by architects and teachers, this experience integrated lessons from art, science, and technology, allowing the children to explore structural design, drawing techniques, and model making. The project was important for the students as it connected National Curriculum subjects with the student’s own creativity and problem-solving skills. This was significant on several levels:  It helped to give the students a deeper understanding of the built environment, gave them confidence in their own creative skills and analytical thinking, and helped build engagement with school subjects by making them relevant to their personal designs.  The student’s designs developed through a process of experimenting with structures and materials before we introduced the design brief and started designing with drawing and models.  This led to teams of students collaborating on the construction of full-scale architectural installations, to enjoy in their playground, during the sunny Summer term at school.