Archived 2008/2009 - Commencement Speaker V. Joseph Pica - The Future Raymond and Esther Kabbaz High School
Posted 6.16.09
Designing Schools for the Future
Madame Kabbaz, distinguished faculty and staff, proud and relieved parents, calm and serene grandparents, honored guests and, of course, graduating seniors, good morning. I am deeply honored that you have asked me here to say a few words at this momentous occasion, and that you might find what I have to say worthy of your attention on so important a day.
During the past seven years, I have been working with Le Lycée Français and Madam Kabbaz conceptualizing a new and unique place of learning – which, when open in September, will be known as the Raymond and Esther Kabbaz High School.
A large part of my architectural career has been dedicated to creating and enhancing opportunities for learning for students in the Kindergarten through High School grades. These initial years of formal education are very important in laying the ground work for future success. But how and where learning happens is as significant as the skills that are taught and the knowledge that is imparted. The physical environment of schools can be fashioned to enhance learning and create community. That has been our goal in the design of the new Kabbaz High School.
There has been an unprecedented wave of school construction in Southern California. You have probably passed numerous new elementary and upper school campuses on your travels across Los Angeles. School construction is occurring in both the public sector and the private school sector. Harvard-Westlake, Windward School, Marlborough, The Brentwood School, Buckley, Westridge School for Girls, Poly, and many more, including Le Lycée, have been forging ahead with substantial expansion plans. Even in light of the current economic downturn, school construction is occurring at a frenzied pace.
Yet there is often a “disconnect” between the forces that shape school facilities and how education occurs. Creating facilities to enrich the learning experience has not, oddly enough, been a goal in school construction. The mindset has been that school buildings are intended to warehouse the students with as little fanfare as possible.
The result is that most school facilities are driven by function, maintenance and security concerns. While these are important factors, they are often the only ones considered in the development or expansion of schools.
When Madame Kabbaz and I first sat down to discuss the design of new Raymond and Esther Kabbaz High School, our primary focus was to create a physical environment that in and of itself, encouraged and enriched the learning experience. To accomplish this, we determined that we had to look beyond the individual program components…and understand that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. And that the built environment could be fashioned to augment the education experience, enhance psychological well-being and encourage social interaction.
Schools Are Communities
A high school campus is a community in microcosm – a little village (so to speak). The most important aspect of a village is the town square, the plaza, the piazza – the center – a destination that attracts and retains interest. There are a number of components that help define a center – not the least of which is food.
People gather around food. We all inherently know this – most parties usually start and end in the kitchen. In the case of a campus, a dining hall is the public café - a place to be with friends and an occasion to exchange pleasantries. If it is designed with indoor and outdoor components – and includes the flexibility to move the chairs and tables together or apart, it will tend to be attractive to all kinds of personalities – the expansive as well as reclusive ones. And if teachers and other adults also use the dining, conditions are ripe for the addressing the “teachable moment” – if and when it may occur.
Other features that help reinforce a place as a campus center include direct access to classrooms and lockers, adjacency to corridors and stairways and the all important ability to overlook the main space from afar. This results in a critical mass of activity and a destination that both attracts and retains interest.
These exact components have been incorporated at the second floor deck of the new Kabbaz High School. We have also included a skybox-style glass wall from the interior dining space into the gymnasium, an overlook from the third floor exterior library deck to the second floor plaza deck, and most importantly, a direct connection to Mr. Anselm’s office.
Learning Happens
One of the greatest challenge in the design of schools is creating the “in-between spaces. A school environment needs opportunities for serendipitous encounters that enrich and enliven the learning and social experience. When you students of the Class of 2009 look back on your High School days, you may recall a certain class or special teacher. By and large, the lasting memories will revolve around spontaneous socializing that occurred outside the structured environment – outside the classroom.
It is not necessary to make elaborate physical structures to encourage informal gathering. Even modest enhancements or adjacencies can create subtle, yet remarkable opportunities for discovery. Un-programmed spaces such as the third level library deck at the new High School, can enlarge the usable area, create an aesthetic learning environment, provide places for socializing, and even provide for an alternative teaching venue.
Other examples of extending the learning environment at the new Kabbaz High School include an immense central staircase with multiple landings and natural light at all levels, extremely wide corridors with lockers and nooks and crannies, a very large library with a variety of lounging and studying areas as well as un-programmed interior spaces such as the community room at street level and a street level covered seating enclosure outside the gymnasium.
Things Change
We all remember the little red schoolhouse of yesteryear where students sat straight and faced the chalkboard. Things have changed. Teaching techniques have expanded significantly and classroom arrangements and technology have changed to accommodate. In non-specialized classrooms, project-based, centers-based and seminar style teaching has supplanted the traditional lecture arrangement. And in high school, where both students and teachers move between periods, class arrangements frequently need to be re-adjusted. Flexibility is the order of the day.
To accommodate the flexibility necessary for the multiple uses and seating arrangements, it is appropriate for classrooms to be larger than their predecessors, have generic, rectangular shapes and sound absorbing acoustical treatment that allow for speaking (and hearing) to occur throughout.
Other important features include incorporation of a significant quantity of tack-able surfaces, ability to have control of the light level as well as the heating, cooling and ventilation and the need for lots of electrical outlets. There is also the incorporation of technology – Smart Boards, wireless internet connection, and all the whistles and bells expected in the best appointed of schools.
Even classrooms such as science labs require flexibility of arrangement. At the Kabbaz High School, the lab desks are portable. Permanent fixture items such as sinks, gas lines, laboratory surfaces and computer terminals are designed to be located on the perimeter counters to facilitate this flexibility.
Effective Security
Schools also need to be pro-active in securing their physical plant. Unfortunately, many times the measures tend to be ad-hoc and too blatant. School security can inadvertently intimidate the students. While it is necessary to incorporate obvious deterrents, it is important not to convey negative messages to the school population. Effective and appropriate security measures require creative solutions – which we believe should be passive.
At the Kabbaz High School, aside from the electronic cameras and monitors, we have placed offices in largely visible locations– directly adjacent and overlooking the socializing areas I talked about earlier. And to deter any exterior threat, the security office sits at the street front with a clear view of all entrances.
Passive security systems are significantly more effective because they provide the necessary control and, at the same time, create a visual aura that is not intimidating the students.
Though seemingly counter-intuitive, the most effective form of security is creating a sense of welcome.
Oftentimes, for many institutions, the sense of “being invitational” stops at the front door. The general assumption is that once the visitor or student is ensconced, the welcoming gesture by the institution has been made and the task complete.
At the Kabbaz High School, welcoming is not just for the first time visitor, but will be an on-going gesture to all. The architecture is intended to assist in setting the tone of the welcome and reinforce the concept of warmth and friendliness throughout the campus.
How will life change at Le Lycée
The new site will significantly alter the High School experience. To start with, the building is a new and identifiable symbol of Le Lycée in Los Angeles. It is decidedly a cutting edge, modernist structure – Architecture with a capital “A:”
It will contain a new gymnasium with full court exhibition basketball, double cross-court volley ball and permanent bleacher seating. This new space as well as a multi-purpose Community Room are located at the street level and are independent and self sufficient. This means that they can function into the late night or weekend hours without having to open the remainder of the school.
The new library is enormous – providing reference stacks, study tables, computer terminals and lounge seating – all in a collegiate setting. The classrooms are significantly larger than at the Overland campus. The science lab alone is three times the size of the existing one and there are now two of them. In addition to the Science Labs, there are multiple special activity spaces including Art, Ceramics, Computer Technology, Choir and Dance, and assorted seminar rooms.
But mostly, the new Kabbaz High School is designed for the student – by creating a facility that encourages positive social interaction, creating a sense of community and incorporating places for casual learning to occur.
Our goal was to create a unified campus that encourages and enriches the learning and teaching experience – and I believe that we have been successful. Students, parents, teachers, staff and administrators of Le Lycée have chosen to be together, learn together and grow together. The new Raymond and Esther Kabbaz High School will very much be the perfect place for this to happen.
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak with you today. Congratulations Class of 2009. I wish for you the best of success and a fun time achieving it.