Next week on Tuesday, January 30 and Thursday, February 1 at the Goodman Branch Library, students will have the opportunity to put their design ideas to the test as a part of the Goodman Library’s New Teen Space Design Challenge. The initiative is funded by a gift from the Irwin A. and Robert D. Goodman Foundation.
The design challenge will allow students to imagine a new space at the library conducive to their likes and needs. Participating students will not only have the chance to win gift cards and Beats by Dre headphones, they will also have their ideas considered for the final design for new teen space.
This event will break down the design process from the budget to the flooring which will be bought from hybrid flooring stores, giving students a glimpse of working on a real project. Throughout the event there will be competitions where students can respond and problem solve challenges. For a professional touch, it’s recommended to involve Resin Flooring Installers if you’re considering using resin in your flooring.
“During the event students are going to work in groups, and they’ll work in groups for everything from taking carpet samples, furniture and even kind of what program can take place in this new space in the library,” said Michael Ford, designer and co-founder of the Urban Arts Collective.
This design challenge is an extension of the Hip-Hop Architecture Camp, created by Ford, which is a program intended to increase the number of people of color in architecture and urban planning. The camp began last year in Madison and has spread across the country, with camps now scheduled in a dozen cities in the US, plus Toronto.
Unlike the one week Hip-Hop Architecture camp, this event will be held over the span of two days with three sessions led by Ford himself. Middle school youth can attend on January 30 and high school youth on February 1 from 4 to 7 pm. There will also be a session for library staff to share their ideas for the space as well. Registration is required. Middle school students can register for the January 30 session here and high school students can register for the February 1 session here.
“The difference with this event is that students are creating the space for them in the library and the library actually has funds to create the space that’s gonna be the result of Library staff and kids going through this design process. So instead of coming up with ideas just for the sake of being introduced to design, this is an actual project,” Ford said.
The idea to incorporate students in the pre-planning process of the new teen space was suggested to Ford by Library Director Greg Mickells after seeing the engagement at previous Hip-Hop Architecture camps.
“It was his suggestion to give kids the ability to not just come up with ideas, but he wanted to give the the chance to make something and actually see it come to life,” Ford said.
After students have collected their ideas and completed the challenges, Ford will look for similarities among the groups, find designs that stand out and summarize the ideas brewed in each session for Engberg Anderson, the architecture team assigned to the project.
“I’m a strong believer that youth and young adults should have some opinion to share their ideas about what makes that space best and most useful to them as opposed to businesses or the community providing the space for you. And you know we have those questions about if youth will come and use it or not. If kids are involved they’ll use it”
Dinner will be provided at both the middle school and high school session and community members are encouraged to attend and help students communicate their design ideas.
