Watch Parlour LAB 13 – Learning Environments: Designing innovative spaces in education with Raechel French and Angela Kreutz.
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1 formal point on completion of the cpd questions.
Refer to the Learning Objectives for Parlour LAB.
Designing in education
Our 13th Parlour LAB is a lively, engaging session that answers these questions and many more. Speaker Raechel French zoomed in from Austin, Texas and Angela Kreutz from Geelong in Victoria, with Kali Marnane and Rebecca McLaughlan co-hosting from their respective bases in Brisbane and Sydney.
Both speakers share their research into innovative education spaces. Angela talks about the importance of play in education, and the need to respect and listen to children’s feedback, experiences and views. “We assume play is frivolous and without aim, but it’s actually quite serious for children”. She raises the need to provide ‘affordances’ for children in design and urban design, providing multiple opportunities for play and learning.
Raechel discusses her work with the BOLD initiative – Bridging Organisation, Learning & Design – which aims to bridge the gap between architects and designers and the school system (teachers, leaders and students). She also outlines her research into three Texan schools, comparing the architects’ point of view with the lived experience of the educators, and the need for physical and organisational supports for teachers.
The Parlour LAB audience is once again engaged, knowledgeable and generous with a stream of questions, comments and advice. An audience member raises the disconnect between the design of internal learning spaces and the way these spaces are ultimately used by teachers. Another suggests that insurance is a key stumbling block when designing creative and innovative outdoor play spaces. Another wonders how two years of lockdowns and online learning have affected the use of the classroom now students are back at school.
For more on all these topics, watch the full video recording with Raechel French and Angela Kreutz in conversation with Kali Marnane and Rebecca McLaughlan.
This session is a companion to LAB 14 – Places of opportunity: designing with and for young people – you can watch that now too.








