Space Matters

Our entire lives are literally embedded in space. We are constantly surrounded, affected and shaped by it—whether consciously perceived or unconsciously experienced. Our spaces both reflect the values and power relationships in our societies and have the potential to alter them; spatial planning can be a powerful political actor. Construction projects in educational institutions become a part of a hidden-in-plain-sight curriculum and as such, campus classrooms and buildings either contribute to a crisis of sustainability in intellectual and material resources, or signal university leadership and commitment to a transformed educational enterprise. (Space Matters: Exploring Spatial Theory and Practice Today, an international symposium, Linz, Austria, May 2012)

The ecology of educational environments with regard to design and materials follows in the path of transformation in paradigms of teaching and learning that involve recognition of the:

• technology literacies of students;
• desire of faculty to generate transformations in their courses, their teaching, and in student learning; and,
• movement at administrative levels to achieve a reconfigured educational enterprise.

Following Sakamaki Innovation Zone and Webster 101 Collaborative Classroom before it, Dean Hall 104 Culture Lab is one more articulation of commitment to transformation in the Mānoa educational enterprise. Gratitude to those constituents who participated through these processes in the funding, design, execution, beta testing, and assessing the effect of energizing spaces for engaged, innovative teaching and learning. A special mahalo goes to Debbie Halbert, the then-Associate Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs (now Vice President for Academic Strategy), and to Laura E. Lyons, Interim Vice Provost for Academic Excellence.

Continue reading: How Dean 104 transformed into Dean 104 Culture Lab