Exploring the Built Environment Online
Craig Roland
The built environment offers rich opportunities for learning about our past and challenges for the future. This month’s curriculum projects, case studies, and resources featured on the site. Also worth checking out is the Cooper- Hewitt, National Design Museum’s oddness and celebrate their ingenu-
ity.” The Bubble Dream Castle and
the Upside Down House are certain
to inspire your students to think up
column features a number of online
Educator Resource Center (
www.edu- their own creative ideas for homes.
tools and resources for using the built
catorresourcecenter.org), which has
Also, don’t miss the WebUrbanist’s
environment as a starting point for art a number of lesson plans that focus
illustrated listing of 10 Precarious
and design lessons in your classroom. on the built environment including
Modern Buildings from around the
“Put Your Best Façade Forward” and
world (
tinyurl.com/nptywh).
Online Design Tools
“Imaginary Spaces: Designing a Play Lastly, students can view many
Google SketchUp (sketchup.google.
Space.”
excellent examples of architecture
com) is free downloadable software
from the recent Design It: Shelter
that can give middle- and high-school Architectural Resources
Competition (
tinyurl.com/msys85),
students the ability to design virtual
Perhaps the most comprehensive
sponsored by the Guggenheim
three-dimensional models of anything reference site for world architec-
Museum and Google SketchUp. The
they wish. Using Google SketchUp
ture on the Web is GreatBuildings
competition challenged designers to
and Google Earth (
earth.google.com), (
www.greatbuildings.com), which
submit a virtual three-dimensional
students can create maps of their
documents some 1200 buildings and
shelter for any location in the world
school or community and then design architects from around the globe and using Google SketchUp and Google
new buildings, playground equipment, across history. The site includes a
Earth. Following the lead of Frank
or other structures. With Architect
wealth of information in the form of
Lloyd Wright, who required potential
Studio 3D (
www.architectstudio3d.
photographic images, architectural
apprentices to design and build a shel-
org), created by the Frank Lloyd
drawings, maps, three-dimensional
ter in the Arizona desert that they
Wright Preservation Trust, middle-
building models, commentaries, Web then had to live and study in, contes-
school students are challenged to
links, and more. Another site with
tants used Google SketchUp to design
design a house with a specific client
interesting historical information
a small structure where someone
and location in mind. They can also
and images is the Library of Con-
might sleep and work. The shelters
learn more about architecture and
gress’s Built in America (
tinyurl.com/ had to be created for specific sites geo-
Frank Lloyd Wright’s life and work.
ykh3awl), which contains architec-
located with Google Earth. The win-
tural drawings, photographs, written ning designs offer a great opportunity
Curriculum Resources
histories, and lesson ideas for more
to discuss Frank Lloyd Wright’s ideas
Engaging Places (www.engaging-
than 35,000 historic structures and
about the relationship between archi-
places.org.uk) is a fabulous resource
sites in the United States dating from tecture and place.
for teachers and students interested
the seventeenth to the twentieth cen-
in learning about buildings and
turies.
Craig Roland is an associate professor of
places around them, both new and
For images of unusual homes
art education in the School of Art and
Art History at the University of Florida
old. Although intended to support the and buildings visit You Live Where?
in Gainesville, Florida. He is the author
study of the built environment in UK (
www.youlivewhere.com), a site dedi- of The Art Teacher’s Guide to the Internet
secondary schools, teachers elsewhere cated to “collecting images of weird
(Davis Publications, 2005). rolandc@ufl.
will find inspiration in the numerous houses in order to marvel at their
edu
