Copyright: BMD

Copyright: BMD

I had the opportunity to work with Bruce Mau Design at OWP/P a few years ago on a 50th Anniversary Book for the firm. Since then the two design firms completed a book, The Third Teacher. This is a strong-willed and informative book, as all of BMD’s work. Large type, bold colors and the use of shocking statistics make this book a great addition to anyone involved in education, any parent concerned in their child’s education, and anyone questioning our country and planet’s  future (hummm, that would be everyone).

The book is organized into 79 digestible bits of  necessary steps to take to create, design and build the schools of the future which encompasses John Maeda’s 2nd Law of Simplicity:

Organize. Organization makes a system of many appear fewer.

Doors to desks, windows to walls, hallways to wayfinding they all encompass a single environment in support of learning. Environments that are stimulating, sustainable, and sincerely effective.

Design needs to graduate to an understanding that a schoolhouse must be one unified world centered on one very important thing: the student.