Room 6 is engaged in a study of architectural design this year, especially that of libraries. Our work will culminate in a redesign of AE II’s own library, with Mary, our librarian, as our primary client. We began with a brief study of Ancient Egypt, site of the first public library. We will learn more about the history of public libraries, especially in the United States and Seattle. We have done fieldwork at Seattle’s new Central Library and the recently remodeled North East Branch. We will also visit the UW’s Suzallo Library and several others. We are collecting data on who these different libraries serve and how the physical design assists the libraries’ purpose and functioning. Our special focus questions are, “Who has access to libraries?” “How can architecture enhance (or prevent!) access?” Students are developing an understanding of the term access in a broad sense, that is, we don’t just mean how one gets in the door, but also how you might “read” clues inside a library as to how it works and where things are. These understandings will help us with our own design work for AE II’s library.

Parallel to our library fieldwork, we are learning about architecture, including some technical skills. We have learned about plan views, contour drawing, and schematics. An example of the latter was an assignment to draw the pathways of balloons filled with air, then released to fly around the room like little jets. We also drew on paper what we heard when a musical instrument played different pitches. We will learn other conventions of architectural drawing prior to creating plans for proposals for the library at AE II.

A wonderful sidebar to studying libraries is that it gives us a great excuse to explore lots of fabulous books! We read in class each day, share books, recommend books to peers, and critique books! A favorite read-aloud book, so far, has been Gary Paulsen’s, Hatchet. We are also creating several class books this year, copies of which we’ll donate to AE II’s library. Our first effort is a book of math word problems created from the contexts of favorite books, such as those from the Harry Potter series, Bloomability, and Super Fudge.

AE2 Elementary School
7711 43rd Avenue NE
Seattle, WA 98115
(206) 252-5300

Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound