When the architecture firm of Fanning/Howey Associates, Inc. begins planning for a new school or renovation, they call on the help of hundreds. Although huge teams are not always the most efficient, the architects believe that ultimately they will yield the best result.
This collective design work is conducted in "charrettes," or intensive, interactive, public design sessions. Teams of architects, engineers, and educational facilities planners set up design stations in a central location such as a school district's headquarters.
MACHU PICCHU STILL ROCK-SOLID
Machu Picchu, the gem of Peru's Inca heritage, a huge sacred city nestling between two mountain peaks 8400 feet (2,550 meters) up in the Andes, has taken its knocks in recent years.
Enthusiastic Peruvian archeologists have tampered with some of the five centuries-old temples in the name of "restoration" and a 1,000-pound (450-kilogram) crane was dropped on a sacred sundial during the filming of a beer commercial, causing some damage.
WHAT DOES AN ARCHITECT DO?
To many people, what architects do is a mystery. Buildings simply appear. The general public has so little understanding of design vocabulary that buildings are incorporated into public life devoid of meaning.
The divide between architecture and public understanding generates a host of problems: between architect and client, architecture school and student, community and planning board. It contributes to the rate of attrition in architecture schools, to logjams in offices, and to miscommunication among project teams.