A fantastic post by Sara Hendren — AKA @ablerism — on how universities ought to, but do not, signal their various social obligations and purposes through architectural diversity. The build world as a guide and frame for the complex experiences of young people.

@ayjay @ablerism This is a very interesting post that I’ll contemplate more (especially with a junior in high school!). Initial musing: what are the virtues and vices of proliferating lounges or “study spaces” right outside classrooms?

@ayjay @teedan I have to think about study spaces, too. I went again yesterday to a cafe in my neighborhood (Harvard Sq) and marveled again at the buzzing life in our local no-laptop cafe. It was all young people, every table full, paper books in hand. Maybe campuses could do this?

@ablerism @ayjay Wheaton has a buzzing new study space in the building renovated for Modern and Classical Languages. Bright colors, varied furniture, natural light, etc. A success in its own way—but not laptop free.

@ablerism all for no laptop spaces. Coffee shops have become sad in the last many years, people on devices with headphones tuning out the world.
The challenge I had was the teahouse that was zero Tech was ideological: in addition to phone bans (fine), it didn't allow e-readers either. So while I would've been happy to frequent the space, a number of books and journal articles that I wanted to read and annotate were on an e-reader.

@jonah I hear you! And I do think the no-laptops serves well as an in-between. Something about the size and scale can really dominate the vibe, unlike with hand-helds.

@teedan Glad to hear this about my alma mater! And I also have a rising junior in high school — thinking through it all.

@ayjay @ablerism Interesting post. The university I work for has really gone the other direction. Most of the newer residence halls have classrooms in them now, too, as a kind of mixed use model. My daughter had a morning class on the first floor of her residence hall last fall.

@bobwertz In my mind, it's not so much whether it's separate building; it's about the interior "envelope" wherein people gather and exchange in distinct ways. You could imagine the tour of campus that includes distinguishing between first floor classroom norms and relationality versus those upstairs, right?

@ablerism Agree completely. I actually think many of the spaces on our campus are pretty well defined. Just toured a new classroom building this morning that's opening this semester with very distinct classroom and collaboration spaces. Spaces are differentiated by furnishings, wall textures and other architectural cues.

@bobwertz And there’s plenty of decent design! I think the main thing really is getting young people to understand that the distinctive functions of each space do require constraints and codes of conduct, each of which serve to make us more free in aggregate. But not in the same way.