PURPOSE

When we faced the opportunity to design the exterior areas for a private school, framed within a 130,000m² suburban parcel, accommodating 800 students, 800 families, and a community of collaborators in a city that was not our own, we knew we had to connect with the people and the place to be successful in this ambitious project. The responsibility of designing for education lies in understanding the role the "place" holds for a student, both in time and space. We understood that we couldn't just sit at our office and imagine what it's like growing up in Villavicencio.

STRATEGY

We designed a creative survey in which we involved every member of the community: students, parents, and staff. We used a plan of the existing school as a way for students to "tell us" through doodles and text what this place meant to them.

The main event was held in classrooms and outdoors, where we organized an activity that began with an icebreaker and evolved into a self-portrait. This self-portrait also asked three questions:

1. What is your favorite place in town?

2. What is your favorite day at school?

3. What do you want to do when you grow up?

This mass consultation allowed us to understand what was important from a place to them, what were meaningful experiences, and how they saw the future for themselves. We learned valuable lessons, such as the importance of the first day of school for many people and how and where those first steps are taken. Additionally, role-playing moments such as school Olympiads or Halloween transform the perception of space and time.

The results were compiled in a publication (link below), with all the process, and the results were presented as an infographic.

https://issuu.com/mapp_colombia/docs/taller_colaborativo_colegio_esp__ri#google_vignette