diverseloquent

Experiential Learning, The New Museum of Liverpool

2011-08-17T12:31:00.000-07:00

" Liverpool is one of the wonders of Britain. What it may grow to in time I know not."

Daniel Defoe: 1708

In a time when our museums, some of the most wonderful and innovative cultural spaces, are taking a terrible hammering due to cuts, I found it uplifting to experience the New Museum of Liverpool. No surprise that this city is teeming with creativity, but just to walk around the Albert Dock and see the whole vista of historic and contemporary architecture unfolded, tells a valuable story in itself.
To my mind the success of this museum, which teemed with people at 10 a.m. on a weekday, is due to two factors, story and space: and how these are intertwined.
Liverpudlians are not short of stories! Here they are captured in every form imaginable: through audio, digital projections, and artefacts, ranging from iconic objects to the most intensely personal, and all equally honoured. And the spaces reverberated with voices of real people, telling their stories, both in audio, and in real time, as I listened in to parents and elders explaining images and objects to the kids, sharing history. There was a huge amount of enjoyable informal learning going on, plus a palpable sense of pride in their shared history.
None of this could have been achieved without the innovative use of the space. The galleries are linked by a central spiral stairway, and treated in a “theatrical” manner, in its’ best sense. Every surface, including the floor and the vertical spaces are mined for opportunities. Look upwards to see a life sized horse and jockey leaping overhead: part of the great Aintree story. Then discover a quiet corner to experience the stories of Liverpool people struggling with massive poverty in the 1930’s, turn about and immerse yourself in their proud history of football. The use of lighting is wonderfully effective, especially the huge suspended “drums” used to project images.
And that is what I enjoyed, this total immersion in an experience that is non- directive, but can be explored and experienced at your own pace. It reminded me of The Cerritos Library in California, an early innovation in the use of space for Experiential Learning.
The new Liverpool Museum is a powerful metaphor for learning, and how if we divorce the potential of physical space from learning, in all its forms, then we deeply misunderstand the nature of learning, which includes the engagement of all senses, visual, audio, touch and possibly even smell!

Cabinet of Wonders, Poetry Medicine and Childbirth

2011-07-28T08:21:00.000-07:00

Poetry can often resonate in the most extraordinary ways, and it was exciting to be contacted by Marguerite Reid asking permission to include one of my poems in her fascinating and recently published paper (Routledge) on The impact of traumatic delivery on the mother-infant relationship.

The poem in question: Returning Defective Goods is in my book Cabinet of Wonders and Marguerite Reid felt the two opening verses were exactly what she was looking for in her introduction.

It is wonderful when a poem hits the mark, and a poet often never knows in what context their work may be quoted. In this case I feel honoured and pleased as her thesis explores issues that as a poet I had touched on obliquely, yet clearly had an impact.

Experiential Knowledge for Business and Management Students

2011-07-03T09:49:00.000-07:00

In 2009 I participated in, and helped design and lead, three very special events at The Whitechapel Gallery, London.
The events were stimulated by visiting The Nature of The Beast exhibition of London-based Polish artist Goshka Macuga, widely acclaimed for her sculptural installations of historic objects and documents. Creating complex networks of reference they are poignant reminders of the profound relation between aesthetics and politics. For this, the first in a series of year-long artists’ commissions, Macuga conceived a unique venue for public gatherings which references a key moment in the Whitechapel Gallery’s history. In 1939 the Gallery hosted Picasso’s Guernica, an outcry against Fascist war atrocities, to drum up support for the Republican forces fighting in Spain.
The exhibition room had been designed to accommodate meetings, discussions and debates around a central table, with Picasso’s Guernica as a backdrop. Groups were invited to organise events free of charge during opening hours.
This proved a fantastic opportunity to further my work with colleagues, including Clive Holtham, on using cultural spaces to enhance the capabilities of students of business and management . If you are given a good offer, accept it! Build on it and reincorporate it into your work. Check out a previous posting about one of these Whitechapel events. These are also documented in a book about the entire exhibition and the many projects that resulted.

The recent EKSIG Conference on Experiential Knowledge in Farnham was an excellent forum to disseminate the lessons learnt from these Whitechapel Gallery events.
What was most pleasing about the conference were the large number of questions stimulated by the presentation.

Information Leadership, extending intuitive skills including thinking through drawing

2011-06-24T12:11:00.000-07:00

It is no surprise that IT professionals have strong analytical and rational skills, but my recent experience of successfully devising and teaching a personal development module on the Cass Business School's Masters in Information Leadership, indicates there is a need to help them develop a wider repertoire of intuitive and reflective skills. These include further developing visual and observational skills, extending the range of written expression, and the importance of reflection (the habit of standing back from a project or challenge and reflecting on it on a deep level).
These professionals are engaged in systems of conveying complex information electronically, and yet the simple act of drawing is often overlooked as an effective additional tool in both exploring and persuasively communicating complex ideas. It can also be a powerful way of taking an idea for a walk and then communicating it, or as Matisse said “putting a line around an idea”. We can’t all be a Matisse! And my experience is that no special artistic skills are needed to use drawing effectively in our repertoire of communication.
Scientists, medical professionals, and engineers continue to use hand drawing to both explore ideas and communicate them. In his introduction to the book Lines of Enquiry: thinking through drawing, Barry Phipps quotes a man who teaches advanced computer graphics: Neil Dodgson, who uses “hand drawn sketches in a range of ways to explain concepts to each other, to test ideas, to teach students.”
And the myriad drawing applications now increasingly downloadable, opens up exciting possibilities concerning the relationship between the hand and the eye, the pen and the screen.

Poetry Metaphor and Medicine, The Hippocrates Poetry Prize

2011-06-11T15:41:00.000-07:00

The International Hippocrates Poetry Prize was established to reflect the links between the widest sense of medical experiences: life, death and everything in between and our human urge to communicate these through the power of language. This Global Poetry Competition has two categories: one for National Health related employees and the other an open prize that anyone can enter. The first prize in each category is £5000. And I was delighted to be awarded a commendation in the open category. It was a privilege to attend the Symposium and award ceremony at Warwick University, I have attended many poetry events however this proved to be especially fascinating. Mixing with medical professionals and writers brought home to me the potential power of writing in response to our experience of medicine, as patient, carers of those close to us, and those wearing the “white coats.”
There is a long and honourable history of poets and writers. Keats was a qualified doctor, and so also the great poet William Carlos Williams, Anton Chekov, and W. Somerset Maugham, and more recently the poet and doctor Dannie Abse.
But the huge volume of entries, 1,500 from 23 countries, testified to the power of poetry to help make sense of personal experience of suffering, sometimes death, and often the long road to recovery, from the perspective of relatives, patients and health professionals. Language and the human desire to communicate story and experience being the common denominator.
The first prize awarded in the NHS category is a poem titled The Chief Radiographer Considers, which uses the narrative of the Curies’ pioneering work to powerful metaphorical effect. The poet, Paula Cunningham is a Belfast dentist.
Poets often contend for recognition through a plethora of poetry competitions, and poetry is a small world. Mark Lawson, one of the 3 judges, made a strong point that unusually this competition was judged anonymously, with the typescripts only stating which category the poem was entered for.
Listening to the readings from the prize winning poets and guest poets Marilyn Hacker, and Gwyneth Lewis, I was struck by the immense power of metaphor, both poetic and medical, in helping us to integrate and make sense of our “body of knowledge.”

Keeping Reflective Journals and Sketchbooks

2011-04-30T12:47:00.000-07:00

Devising and teaching a new module for Cass Business Management students, based on Reflective Practice, has caused me to revisit my own practice, and particularly keeping up a Reflective Journal or Reflective Sketchbook. This was something I was encouraged to do as a student studying Theatre Design, and now as I work on my first novel, I heavily use journals and notebooks to produce and reflect on my material. As design was my first discipline, these notebooks are also punctuated with sketches, images, pasted in photos, train tickets and all kinds of “detritus” that are grist to the mill for stimulating my imagination and reflecting on sometimes seemingly small events, in order to “notice things differently”.
So as keeping a Reflective Journal is a core part of what I am asking my students to do, I attended The Sketchbook Conference, held in Cambridge by Access Art, both to share our practice and to find out what the innovators are up to. Nothing could have fully prepared me for this extraordinary event, the range of interactive workshops, and the handling exhibition of hundreds of reflective sketchbooks and journals was awe inspiring.
There were many outstanding speakers, drawn from a wide range of disciplines. Eileen Adams was particularly memorable: a teacher educator, consultant and researcher in curriculum development, whose current work as Director of Power Drawing aims to embed the use of drawing as a medium for learning in educators’ practice.
It endorsed the work on Reflective Journals that I and my colleague Clive Holtham have been pioneering now over several years at Cass Business School. When working with talented undergraduates aspiring to a management career in a highly competitive world, the missing elements are often the ability to stand back and reflect, to become critically aware through observation of often “un-noticed “ but crucial things, and in doing so to become more self aware, and effective managers of people
The discipline of keeping a reflective journal, and encouragement to explore visual means of communication is a pioneering idea for business students. The recent exhibition by Cass first year management undergraduates, planned, curated and hosted by the students themselves, depended on their individual reflective journals. They exploited this as a key way of helping them develop their full potential, as future managers and as self-aware individuals.

Reflective Practitioner, Cass Student Exhibition

2011-04-28T06:38:00.000-07:00

It is often only after a significant event that one has time to draw breath and reflect on what has been achieved. So now I have had that time to consider the full impact of the final exhibition of students work for the new Reflective Practitioner module I have been so occupied with over the past term, with students on the Business Management Undergraduate Course at Cass Business School. This was the culmination of 11 weeks work on a demanding and very different type of pioneering course that asks students to concentrate on developing a set of skills that will give them the extra edge as managers, and which employers and recruiters are telling us are key to what they are looking for, and all centering on self-awareness, reflection and persuasive communication. And how great to see the exhibition so well attended by many visitors from both within the university and also at high level from business and the arts, several of whom had made significant contributions to the course, and told their personal stories about how these skills have been massively important in their own career journeys.
The students both curated the exhibition and acted as guides. It was exciting to see and hear them speaking so eloquently and confidently about each exhibit and what it represented in terms of their own learning journey. At the heart of this work was the idea of keeping a Reflective Journal, where each student could privately reflect and explore ideas and content. For many these became truly important, and allowed them to put forward their reflections on management in any way they wished. It is quite extraordinary to see the range of writing, visual recording through notes and sketches and images. There is possibly no better team working exercise than designing, curating and guiding visitors through an exhibition, under huge time pressure. And a great endorsement of the course when a student came up to me and said, “You know a lot of us didn’t fully realise what we have achieved on this course until today, just seeing the results exhibited like this is massive. ”
And yes it was massive: insights, reflections, perceptions, critical analysis, all persuasively communicated, and in a complex visual display. One stands out, each student artfully communicating their personal management journey on the back of a business envelope.

Inspired by Leeds: cultural spaces to further learning

2010-12-31T11:11:00.000-08:00

My birthplace is Leeds, and I spent my formative years there, so it was fascinating to attend a recent conference at Leeds Metropolitan University, on innovative ways of assessing in Higher Education. This is part of their Assessment Learning and Teaching Project.
The Leeds City of today is a far cry from the city I remembered in my youth: sooty and neglected Victorian buildings. I guess that was partly the driving force in my wanting to escape to study in London, where it all seemed to be happening in 69.
As Sally Brown the dynamic Pro- Vice -Chancellor at Leeds Metropolitan, and A National Teaching Fellow gave her opening address, she spoke about her own feelings at embarking on going to University, and coming from an all girls’ school, and the first member of her family to get a university place. It was witty and heartfelt, and resonated with me. I remember being so scared when I got off the train at Kings Cross Station all those years ago, that I shook.
Many things have changed. Leeds is a culturally diverse, exciting city, but the transition from school to the first year in university is still challenging and sometimes traumatising and lonely. Many students drop out in the first few weeks. The question is how can academic staff best support, and help students to integrate, and also get support from their peers.
The right kind of assessment approaches in this first year can help students to feel empowered, strengthen their self belief, and if designed well, can also help them forge friendships and a sense of belonging within a learning community.
Returning to London, it was good to quickly feedback to colleagues at City University some of the initiatives and successful projects put forward at conference. And I also had time to reflect on change, both how my home city had changed and yet also retained wonderful features. Before getting the train back to Kings Cross, I spent an hour walking through the incredible high Victorian Architecture of The Leeds Central Market. This was a weekly shopping event in my childhood, every Saturday morning. It may be of interest to my Business students that in this market a Jewish immigrant called Michael Marks first set up a stall, this was the birth of Marks and Spencers.

After a catastrophic fire in 1974, amazingly much of the glass and iron structure, with its extraordinary Chinese Dragon features survived, and still buzzes with life. How great then to see it reinvented as the setting for the current Pantomime: Aladdin, at Leeds Playhouse. As my first career was a Theatre set designer, there was a sense of a circle completed, and an unusual example of cultural spaces and places used to inspire creativity and learning.

Forthcoming course on Librarians Influencing the Design of Library Buildings

2010-08-13T09:44:00.000-07:00

Librarians involved in planning a new library building, or a major refurbishment will be facing current financial challenges. I have extensive experience of working with librarians to achieve library buildings that meet community and professional needs, and know it isn’t all about money. More than ever, librarians need to use all their expertise and ingenuity to influence the design of library spaces for optimum use
Having researched and visited hundreds of libraries nationally and internationally, I have built up a repository of relatively low cost innovatory space ideas and solutions. Take the wonderful OBA Library: Amsterdam, a multi million pound project, but full of ingenious ideas that are easily copied. Many of these are derived from theatre, which has always been about achieving dynamic and flexible spaces, on little money. These ideas can also be adapted towards transforming existing spaces.
I will be running a course at The Cilip Headquarters in London on September 23rd 2010
CILIP Event Details: Influencing the design of new library buildings
The CILIP course will take account of the economic situation and include lower cost solutions. It will focus on achieving a building that meets geographical community needs and also professional requirements by becoming an effective rather than passive client, influencing each stage of the process. The need is to set up a design decision making process that genuinely engages those closely involved with the library, particularly front line staff. Participants will look at key critical aspects of the library design process, gain a deeper insight into the practicalities of the process and work in groups, to make decisions that will be evaluated to help inform real-life design issues and compromises.

Innovation in Teaching and Learning

2010-06-22T14:27:00.000-07:00

A long association with Cass Business School has been a central part of my work on innovation in teaching and learning, and it’s exciting to take this further now as the Learning Development Associate for the School. I’m having an exciting time helping to develop innovative approaches at Cass.
My birthplace is Leeds, and I spent my formative years there, so it was fascinating to attend a recent conference at Leeds Metropolitan University, on innovative ways of assessing in Higher Education. This is part of their Assessment Learning and Teaching Project.
The Leeds City of today is a far cry from the city I remembered in my youth: sooty and neglected Victorian buildings and little to offer young people. I guess that was partly the driving force in my wanting to escape to study in London, where it all seemed to be happening in 69.
As Sally Brown the dynamic Pro- Vice -Chancellor at Leeds Metropolitan, and a National Teaching Fellow gave her opening address, she spoke about her own feelings at embarking on going to University, and coming from an all girls’ school, and the first member of her family to get a university place. It was witty and heartfelt, and resonated with me. I remember being so scared when I got off the train at Kings Cross Station all those years ago, that I shook.
Many things have changed. Leeds is now a dynamic city, but the transition from school to the first year in university is still challenging and sometimes traumatising and lonely. Many students drop out in the first few weeks. The question is how can academic staff best support, and help students to integrate, and also get support from their peers.
The right kind of Assessment in this first year can help students to feel empowered, strengthen their self belief, and if designed well, can also help them forge friendships and a sense of belonging within a learning community.

Uncommon Sense and Learning Initiatives

2010-05-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

I took part in a Creative Research Network day this Wednesday at Kent University: Canterbury. The theme, Creative Campus, could not have had a more inspirational setting. One of their myriad initiatives is the building of an outdoor labyrinth, placed on the slopes of the campus with a view of Canterbury Cathedral. This was the idea of Dr. Jan Sellers and funded by her National Teaching Fellowship Award.
Walking a labyrinth has for centuries been an aid to contemplation, and contemplation often opens the gates of the imagination. This, and indeed the whole day, led me to a number of thoughts.
To propose such an initiative seems to me a quantum leap of the imagination, and possibly the setting aside for a while, of what we might call common sense. In my early work as a theatre designer and actor I found that common sense was the biggest threat to producing innovative and exciting work.
I doubt that Samuel Beckett would have got very far with Waiting for Godot, if he had been required to submit a three page “treatment” or synopsis. The same could be applied to James Joyce’s Ulysses. I then thought about the horrors of Design by Committee, often encountered in my Library Design work. And finally, sitting watching people walking the Canterbury Labyrinth, my eye wandered to the spires of the distant Cathedral, and I thought of Antoni Gaudi and his "crazy" but superb Cathedral of Sagrada Familia in Barcelona
Submitting Gaudi’s design as a proposal to a committee based on conventional thinking, and common sense, might well have killed it before it had a chance to draw breath. Sometimes it requires a brave dislocation of thinking, or a discontinuity in the evolution of ideas, to innovate. Maybe this makes uncommon sense.

Newcastle City Library, a Building to Delight and Inspire

2009-11-17T05:07:00.000-08:00

The new landmark Newcastle Central library is superb. The £40.2m building replaces the rather brutalist 1960’s concrete bunker; demolished in 2006. As I toured the building with the Libraries' Development Manager and the interior designer, each floor revealed extraordinary elements of this confident and striking library. Clearly the long consultation with the public and the strong collaborative process between the library service and Ryder Architecture has been fundamental to the success of the project; and as Ian Kennedy the architect (refreshingly) told me their job was to achieve the client’s overall vision.

I found so much to delight and inspire in the new library that there will be more blog postings to follow. Some key elements that stood out on my initial visit were:

Exciting use of space and sight lines throughout the 6 storeys: with a huge light filled atrium piercing the building and enticing people to explore.

Transparency, the glass façade of the building advertises its function and the many delights it contains to passers by. (I recall the old library looked rather like a multi-storey car park.)

Flexibility of the entire space, with no main issue desk and library staff clearly visible at the many stand-alone enquiry and service points. The bookable meeting rooms have flexibility of use, including a 180 seater performance space.

Easy to orientate and use: a hundred percent self service, with customers able to self-issue all items without staff intervention. Visitors can use entrances from two aspects, and the open floor plate and colour-coded signage enables people to easily orientate themselves.

Extraordinary treasures (many previously unseen) are now imaginatively displayed: including the Newcastle Collection, only part of which comprises of exquisite volumes, watercolours and woodblocks by Thomas Bewick (1753-1828).

Sustainability: including background lighting linked to daylight, solar activated window blinds, solar panels on the roof, and grey water recycled to flush toilets.

Vertical space used to inspire; text and image based art installation Four Questions, printed on the glazing across three storeys, by local artist Kathryn Hodkinson.

Wonderful amount and variety of study spaces, including those for quiet reflection, for groups and individuals. The local studies area (of great importance to this community) covers one entire floor.

Innovative approach to writing for academic journal publication

2009-09-29T15:05:00.000-07:00

I’ve had a very productive summer of writing and teaching, with a recent high point of teaching on the LIHE 2009 Symposium for Writing for Academic Journal Publication, in Aegina, Greece. The LIHE is The International Academic Association for the Enhancement of Learning in Higher Education

This innovatory symposium is the brainchild of Dr. Claus Nygaard, an executive director of LIHE, and Professor of Management Education and director of research at CBS Learning Lab; Copenhagen Business School. Together with two other professional writing coaches, I worked intensively with participants drawn from many different countries, to help them improve their academic writing skills towards journal publication.

My approach draws on my work both as the author of published papers and articles and as a published poet; currently working on a novel. All writing is about communication, and although one does not need the same skills for writing a novel, in order to produce a well written academic article, so many of the same principles apply.
Managing complex research material, producing an effective structure, keeping hold of your “plot” i.e., your fundamental research question(s), and ensuring these are answered through your thesis. And above all communicating your ideas through energised and accessible language, not encoded jargon. There are many imaginative ways that I use to help people towards honing their writing skills, and the great feedback from the symposium participants shows this works.
The Symposium was an extraordinary week, in a beautiful setting. The peaceful and beautiful island of Aegina is only 50 minutes from the Athens port of Piraeus, and is a fantastic place for academic discussion and collaborative work.
In one of my group teaching sessions I put forward a text written by a man who arguably has been the world’s most seminal influence on scientific research, yet who struggled deeply with writing and publishing his findings.

I have as much difficulty as ever in expressing myself clearly and concisely; and this difficulty has caused me a very great loss of time; but has had the compensating advantage of forcing me to think long and intently about every sentence, and thus I have been often led to see errors in reasoning and in my own observations or those of others. Charles Darwin

LIHE has many promising events forthcoming, including a second Symposium in 2010 on Writing for Journal Publication, which I look forward to participating in.

Family Friendly Museums: Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood

2009-07-23T15:45:00.000-07:00

The Guardian 2009 Family Friendly Museum Award is judged by families. The closing date for nominations is 29th August.Kids in Museums was founded when writer Dea Birkett’s family visited the Aztec exhibition at the Royal Academy, London. Her two-year-old son River shouted ‘Monster!’ at a statue that looked rather like - well - a monster. But rather than congratulating their young visitor for his early appreciation of Aztec art, River was thrown out for being too noisy.

Dea soon discovered her family wasn’t alone in being made uncomfortable when surrounded by objects and art. After she reported her family’s expulsion in the Guardian, hundreds of visitors wrote in to say they’d also been made to feel unwelcome in a museum. So Kids in Museums and the Guardian Family Friendly Museum Award were launched, determined to show how museums and galleries can and do get it right for families.

This story resonated with me, several years ago I took two 10 year old kids to Tate St Ives. The exhibition included installations, one was a floor installation, actually patterns set in to the floor and just so enticing, begging to be explored and walked on, and in no way fragile. There were no clear signs telling us to “Keep Off The Grass” so the kids did what came naturally. The po-faced telling off from “invigilators” set a cloud on the day, and two kids lost their enthusiasm for art. So we left, and took them on to the nearby beach to explore the biggest and most impressive floor- installation that nature has to offer.

My vote for a family friendly museum will go to The Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood. No po-faced invigilators here. Just the most welcoming and creative space imaginable. A true celebration of childhood, play and creativity, and very proactive in engaging the broadest diversity of people and families. It is an uplifting museum space, a little off the main London Museum map, but a real gem that offers wonderful insights into the history of play and childhood imagination.

Ground breaking learning initiatives in museums and galleries

2009-07-01T12:07:00.000-07:00

I have just spent a great evening viewing a very well attended interactive show of Cass Business School’s MBA student work, created as a reflection of their navigation through the Flow, Tide and Rapids of their Business Mystery elective, MBA and career journeys.   

The year's course involved workshops at the Barbican Art Gallery, Whitechapel Art Gallery, Premises Recording Studios and Drill Hall Theatre. Classes encompassed student observation, communication, performance and design based on the theme of Flow, Tide and Rapids. What emerged is a series of multi-media student works bringing forth distinct perspectives on the art of management, rooted in imagination, summarizing personal and professional journeys through the elective, MBA and career paths.
 
I’ve found it exciting to teach on this ground breaking elective course, and seeing how the students seized hold of the opportunity to work with me and other colleagues in the Whitechapel Gallery’s current installation by artist Goshka Macuga. Based on the tapestry of Picasso’s iconic Guernica Painting, it is set in the context of it’s extraordinary history and links with the political scene in 1930’s east end of London. Using the Guernica image and the reconstruction of its placement as a backdrop to dialogue, viz the round table at the United Nations, students went through a process of co-devising, negotiating and producing an eight-section large scale art work on the theme of Flow, Tide and Rapids; where each component could both stand alone and be viewed as an integrated whole.

There was so much to enjoy in this student curated exhibition. The personal sketchbooks and journals kept through their coursework were illuminating, and reinforced my long held view that this is a wonderful analogue tool for exploring and capturing personal learning journeys in a deeply reflective way.

My work with museums has convinced me that one of the fundamental purposes of galleries and museums is to communicate and encourage discussion and further learning. The outcomes of this project have more than reinforced that belief.

Meeting Space for Capturing Stories: The Nature of The Beast

2009-05-23T12:52:00.000-07:00

The Whitechapel Gallery in East London has recently undergone a major development of the physical space, with a thought provoking installation, that mines the rich social history both of the East End and of the Gallery. Goshka Macuga’s exhibition: The Nature of The Beast revolves around:

The presentation of Picasso’s original painting, “Guernica” at The Whitechapel Gallery in 1939 and the placement and role of the tapestry of Guernica at The United Nations Headquarters in New York from 1985 to 2009. In both instances the image has been used as a backdrop for political debate. The room has been designed with a real emphasis on accommodating and encouraging meetings for discussion groups, with Guernica used once again as a backdrop”

The artist offered an invitation to host meetings and discussions around the large central table, which displays under glass, an extraordinary narrative around the circumstances of Picasso’s famous painting coming to the East End in 1939. This original event had been organised by the Stepney Trade Union Council who approached the gallery for help in their efforts to fight Fascism, and to help enlist volunteers for the Republican cause in the Spanish Civil War. Stories can be powerful tools: an example that has stayed with me is that a small charge was made to the public in 1939, to view the Guernica painting. Or they could pay with a pair of boots!
Over 400 pairs of boots were collected and sent to the soldiers in the Republican Army, fighting Fascism in Spain.

Sometimes one encounters an opportunity where everything seems to come together, in this case my abiding interest in how organisations use physical space for meetings, and how the design of such spaces can deeply affect the tone and outcomes of meetings. But also I was interested in the creative and learning potential of holding a meeting with this extraordinary theatrical backdrop, and to explore new ways to use archive material in my work with museums, libraries and galleries.

I pitched the idea to a small group of associates, artists and practitioners who all work in different ways towards innovative ways of learning. It proved to be an exciting event. Each of us brought an idea, a prompt for an activity or a set of materials to the “table”. The exhibition remained open to the general public throughout the two hours, and our event became part of the exhibition, with some members of the public becoming intrigued and taking part in our meeting.

Our documentation, including video footage, will become part of the gallery’s archive.

Taking Ideas Into Action, Shine 09 London Event

2009-05-18T05:09:00.000-07:00

I’ve just spent two fantastic days at the Shine 09 event:Taking Social Ideas Into Action. Described as an UnConference, it brought together social entrepreneurs with organisations including Ashoka, Lovells, Futurebuilders, UnLtd and The School for Social Entrepreneurs. The two days were a terrific mix of structured and unstructured events, where we could all learn from each other. The balance was just right, dynamic yet also relaxed. It was also very affordable, a big point these days! And really important in ensuring inclusion of a wide range of people. There were two venues, both exceptional spaces: the Kings Place and The Hub Kings Cross.

One of the first people I bumped into was David Wilcox, (who co-ran a brilliant Social Collaboration game on the second day.) We’d recently talked about the work I do with heritage, museums and libraries. David invited me to be a Shine Social Reporter for the next hour or so. I’m more used to interviewing on camcorder, but didn’t need my arm twisting when David lent me his small flip (video) camera. It seems like everyone at Shine 09 had a great story to share. I had great fun capturing a few of them and it also proved an interesting way of networking. They can be viewed at Social Reporting at Shine together with loads of background, outcomes, and thought pieces on the whole event. I’m even more fired up now to continue encouraging the people I work with in the cultural sector to use social media tools to share ideas and stories.

Being Present and Represented

2009-04-11T11:58:00.000-07:00

Last week I took part in a seminar at The Museum of London Docklands, exploring representation and retelling people's stories, using the exhibition Living Ancestors as a starting point. The event was free, and each speaker an innovator in his or her field. They put forward their motives, methods and ethics around working collaboratively with people to document their lives and knowledge in creative ways. We were invited to critically consider their practices, draw inspiration from their methodologies and values, and share our own.

Gabrielle Le Roux is a feminist cultural activist and artist, who combines portraits drawn from life and first person narratives in travelling exhibitions that raise awareness of social issues. After her presentation she invited us to accompany her to look at her Living Ancestors exhibition, and question her about it.

Solomon Yohannes talked about their oral history work undertaken at The Museum of Londonwith refugee communities. This impressive project has deeply resonated with me, especially in its challenge of media stereotypes about refugees, and the way in which community organisations have ownership of the project, playing an active and fundemental role. Fieldworkers were drawn from the communities and trained in oral history methods and approaches at MA level. I was also impressed by the innovatory lightness of curatorial touch , which allowed poignant and essential feelings and experiences to shine through: impermanance, longing, separateness and belonging. I came away inspired and thinking that these are the deep conversations that those of us working in the heritage and cultural sectors need to actively persue, and engage in a free and open dialogue with communities, artists and curators.

Notebooks and Creativity

2009-02-16T04:23:00.000-08:00

As an inveterate user of personal notebooks, both for my writing and work in museums and heritage, I’ve become fascinated in the whole subject of notebook keeping for developing creativity. There is something about these little paper and card artefacts that seems to stimulate a different way of thinking, from say capturing your working process digitally. I’m not alone! History is littered with secret and not so secret notebook keepers.

My current interest is in encouraging their use by the people I work with on diversity issues, to help them explore ideas for projects in museums, libraries and galleries, that lead to projects that can reflect our diverse society. The designer Michael Bierut has posted a wonderfully rich account and images of 26 years of his notebooks. It’s a fascinating insight into his working processes, but the single thing that stands out for me is how often they capture an initial idea, that in essence remained the core of a project, no matter how many iterations it went through.
These initial thoughts, sketches, even doodles, are so often the gold dust for a future creative project, but like fragments of a dream that slips away on waking, can be ephemeral, unless they are captured.

Hard to Reach Groups of Young People, a challenge for the Cultural Sector

2009-02-05T11:56:00.000-08:00

I’ve recently been involved in fundraising to help support a group of young people from East London to take part in a 12 week expedition to South India withRaleigh International. Aged from 18 to 25 they are all not in work, education or training, and have been taken through a programme to help build confidence and team working, towards this fantastic venture. They will be working with grass roots communities in extraordinary forest and mountain locations, to help make a real difference to people's lives. Raleigh International is currently celebrating 25 years of also making a real difference to the lives of young people.

The Princes Trust is giving partnership support to this group of young East Enders. It has just published an interesting report. The Princes Trust
The YouGov Youth Index was based on interviews with 2,004 young people aged 16 to 25 across the UK, revealing the state of their lives today and how confident they are about their future. Alarmingly more than one in ten feels that life is meaningless and more than a quarter admitted they are often depressed, with over 1 million of those not in Education, Employment or Training, most likely to feel this way.

The cultural sector, including museums, galleries, libraries and heritage organisations are engaged in many projects and initiatives for young people. However often young people who are not in education, get missed out and are far more hard to reach. It is shocking that 60% of media coverage of young people is negative, yet Raleigh International’s work demonstrates the huge potential they have for meeting challenges, and making a significant contribution.

Museums: reaching out to new audiences

2009-01-25T11:12:00.000-08:00

In looking to engage all members of the community, Hackney Museum in East London, has developed a Platform Programme. This encourages local community groups and organisations to put forward their proposals for an exhibit. Hackney is a thriving and lively inner city borough, with one of the most diverse range of people in Britain. It is sometimes the case that gender can be overlooked when thinking about diversity. So I was interested to see this powerful exhibition, resulting from the Platform initiative. Called Hackney Women Rise, it marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The text and images celebrate and remember the achievements of women and girls who have experienced male violence. This seems to me to be a cutting edge initiative, and it is both moving and inspirational. It also ties in strongly with many of the other exhibits, which tell diverse stories of the histories of the people who have settled in, lived and worked in Hackney over the centuries.

There are many objects displayed which inspire, and ensure that individuals and communities see themselves, and their heritage, represented, including
successfully overcoming adversity, and contributing to the fantastic cultural life of Hackney.

Living Museums and Food For Thought

2009-01-12T08:16:00.000-08:00

It’s strange how getting out of your comfort zone can lead to new discoveries about things you have taken for granted. On a recent trip to North Africa, I visited some wonderful historic sites and museums, but it was the Jemma el Fna square in Marakech that literally gave me more food for thought. The square has recently been designated by UNESCO as part of mankinds cultural heritage. And walking around it I found myself reconsidering a humble foodstuff…the onion. At night, this square is transformed into an almost medieval scene, with story tellers, and soothsayers, and hundreds of tented foodstalls offering all manner of spices, dried foods and tasty morsels, including food cooked over charcoal in little earthenware Tajines. A Moroccan staple is the onion, added to almost every dish.

The humble onion family, including garlic, has a fascinating cross-cultural history, which if you follow the journey can take you back 4,000 years of medical and culinary use. Onions were sacred to the Egyptians, who believed that if buried with the dead, the powerful smell could spark back breath and life. On a more prosaic note, as a Northerner, I know that there are parts of North East Britain where Giant Leek growing competitions have been taken very seriously since Victorian times.

Working with The Gateway Gardens Trust has given me more insight into how our historic gardens, parks and own back yards, are a potential living museum. Every fruit, tree and plant holds potential for the exchange of diverse stories, insights and traditions. For more about the rich history of the onion and other "everyday" plants and foodstuffs, take a look at their excellent education resource Food For Thought

New Library Builds, achieving a library the public wants

2009-01-12T03:29:00.000-08:00

When new libraries are planned it is absolutely essential that the library professionals and the community are fully involved in the process. The success of the new library at Oswestry is a supreme example of how important this is towards effectively briefing architects and space planners, to achieve the library that the public wants. The key is to start this process right at the start, before major decisions are made. This 2004 photograph is a view of the very beginnings of the physical process of building a new library for Oswestry

On my recent return visit I interviewed Claire Cartlidge and Teresa Eccleston; two library professionals who have been key in leading their team through the complexities of a new library build .

Claire participated in one of my regional Libraries By Design workshops for CILIP She later contacted me asking if I could run a purpose designed workshop to help them formulate a design vision for the new library.

I was keen to find out how my original workshop in 2004 with the library professionals, space planner, building design group and other partners, had helped them sustain their vision over 4 years.

Here’s a nugget from that interview:

AD.

“ What key insights might you be able to share with other library professionals embarking on a new build?”

CC .
"I think it has been having the time to plan, and really to think things through, and to be able to work with the staff and the local community, and focus groups. This has been a real plus.”

TS
“Yes, and actually the plans we came up with at your workshop in 2004, have changed very little. Our layout has remained pretty constant, and given that and the work with the community through focus groups, I think we have included just about everything that people asked us to do. One of the big pluses of your workshop was that the space planner was involved. She got a sense right from the start of what we were after, and took the opportunity to be as creative as possible.”

CC
“ Yes, going back to the design thing, and this really does go back to the workshop, was the fact that when we came to write the design brief for the Building Design Group, we said we wanted it to be vibrant, and the lighting to be effective. And they really took note of this.”

The comments book reflect the effectiveness of putting in time and effort to engage all players in the design process, at a very early stage

“Fantastic use of space, bright, light and inspirational, which is good for creativity. Definitely worth the wait. Something the whole community will be able to utilize for the future.” Oswestry Library User.

New Oswestry Library: Tripping The Light Fantastic

2008-12-22T10:53:00.000-08:00

Oswestry has just had the official opening of its new library: it has been open to the public for seven weeks, and in that period the adult loans of books has increased by 35% and the children’s loans by an incredible 105%. I was invited to take part in the celebrations, having helped the library staff four years ago, to put forward their vision for the library space. It was wonderful to see how much of that initial vision has come through to fruition, and how library professionals can make a significant impact on the design of a new library space, when they are given the opportunity to work through their creative ideas with the space planners and lighting designers. The task was challenging: retaining the ground floor part of the much loved, listed Victorian library and melding it effectively with the middle floor of an extensive new metal frame building, with offices above and retail below. I’ve seen so many similar new library buildings that have missed the opportunity, and ended up with a “vanilla” design, but Oswestry really is a triumph.

The space planner participated in my design workshop and was able to work with the librarians and other partners on their emerging ideas. Imaginative use of lighting came through as a key idea, and the librarians went on to brief the space planner on vibrant and dramatic use of lighting and colour. This has transformed a potentially difficult L-shaped space. Here are just a few of the lighting ideas:

the stairs between the original library ground floor and the new library are theatrically hi-lighted by intense blue LED lighting.
the imaginative children’s section is designed as a “castle” complete with medieval chandeliers and flame effect torches.
to overcome the usual bland flat ceiling, there are false recessed skylights, with “natural” daylight; this is so effective that many library users think it is indeed daylight.
a high proportion of the lighting is flexible and dimmable, so a central part of the library can be quickly transformed into a performance space. In the first few weeks they have already hosted break dancing performances, a puppet show, and talks by local authors.

The proof of the pudding is as they say in the eating. In this case the enthusiastic and positive responses of library users, in the library comments book.

Using Gardens For Social Learning

2008-11-19T07:48:00.000-08:00

I've recently returned from running a workshop as part of The Gateway Gardens Trust's new series of regional seminars on extending access to Historic Parks and Gardens. The setting, Arley Hall and Gardens, was completely inspirational. Thirty or so participants, drawn from across the North West, represented some of the most stunning and exquisite gardens in the region. The central idea was to give people an opportunity to share learning and put forward their own ideas for projects that will "Open All the Gates" of these gardens to the widest diversity of people. Over several years I've devised and run dialogue sheet activities with such a diverse range of people and groups, and the sheer creativity of the outcomes continues to excite me, and every time I also come away from the experience with fresh ideas for new learning approaches.
Doris Lessing expressed this feeling well:
"That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you've understood all your life, but in a new way."

Social Learning: connecting to people's passions

2008-11-14T12:05:00.000-08:00

I've discovered a great blog, that so ties in with all the work I've been doing with communities and diverse groups. Andy Gibson's Free School Tools on his School of Everything are a fantastic meld of utter simplicity: the use of post-it notes for shared learning, and real complexity.
I've been incorporating post-it notes in all my work with community and heritage groups, so I know how effective they can be in shared learning. Andy's blog echoes what I've learned: that face to face learning is enriched by technology, but can't be replaced by it. I've found that when you bring together diverse groups of people to share learning, you just have to ask the right questions, and my main question is: "What are you passionate about?" You soon discover that these unique passions have the possibility of being shared. In diversity work, this is gold dust.

What's in a Word?

2008-11-11T14:59:00.000-08:00

I've been contacted by several people about my new blog name: Diverseloquent. They wondered if this was a typo, as no such word exisits, and did I mean DiverseIloquent?
Well the answer is I thought very carefully about the new blog name. As I writer, or to coin an old fashioned term, a wordsmith, I spend a good deal of time delving into words and their meanings. So I was very taken by the word 'diversiloquent', which means speaking diversely - in different ways. But it just didn't fully express what I wanted to capture through my blog. The word 'eloquent' means "having or expressing the power of fluency, or movingly expressive."
So I guess I have invented a new word, by melding the two. That's the beauty of language, its continual flux. I don't underestimate the power of words, and recently this came home to me when visiting a small but important exhibition on the history and legacy of slavery, at Hackney Library. The title was Recovered Stories. This gave pause for thought, as often Black History is expressed as "hidden" stories, yet it seemed to me this word, "recovered", was far more powerful , more eloquently expressive, and possibly more truthful.

Learning by Walking About

2008-11-05T12:54:00.000-08:00

I'm busy preparing for facilitating a Dialogue and Learning session for a series of regional seminars run by a wonderful organisationThe Gateway Gardens Trust. It has been very exciting to collaborate with this organisation over the past two years of diversity work. The Gateway Gardens Trust has "opened the gates" to historic parks and gardens for people of all ages and backgrounds by creating programmes of free garden visits. Creativity, and mining the huge assets of historic gardens for informal learning and pleasure, is absolutely key to their work. An example is their Bittersweet project, inspired by the 200th. marking of the abolition of the slave trade on British ships. They looked at connections between enslaved people and historic gardens, focussing on the history of food and the links between enslaved people, tea drinking, and sugar, with an emphasis on the emerging and important stories that members of the Black and Ethnic Communities have to tell.
So I have been re-considering the whole subject of gardens and learning opportunities, and in the process taking long walks.
I find the simple act of walking leads to all kinds of creative discoveries, and walking through a beautiful garden has many sensory delights that lead to reflective thought. This is not a new idea, but one perhaps we have lost touch with. Charles Dickens exercised his writing imagination through long walks, and Saint Augustine coined the idea of "solvitur ambulando" - learning by walking about.

A Highly Imaginative form of Library Consultation

2008-11-03T14:09:00.000-08:00

I'm always on the look-out for creative and innovative ways of engaging communities in the design of new libraries. A friend recently directed me to this wonderful initiative in his local library. South Oxhey is a huge 1940's 50's council estate in the South Western corner of Hertfordshire, close to Greater London, and currently redeveloping their library. As part of their community engagement strategy, they engaged an innovative team of artists, known as the Kartoon Kings, who worked with local residents to discuss what their ideal library would be like. Following their research, the artists developed, edited and designed a high quality, stunning, hardback book presenting the ideas, visions and suggestions of local people for their revamped library.The result is The South Oxhey Library Book: "bringing together experiences and dreams of libraries from conversations with people in South Oxhey."
It is a real gem, beautifully designed to use text in the most imaginative way, distributed free to local residents and stuffed full of insights from the people who matter, library users and potential users. The book is downloadable from greenheartpartnership

Library Rules, OK?

2008-10-24T13:40:00.000-07:00

Inevitably when you work with librarians on new library builds and spaces, you have to address the idea of library "rules". I thought I had encountered the whole gamut, including quiet spaces, no eating and drinking, no mobile phones, no teenage snogging. But I have to take my hat off to this extract from the State Library of Queensland's Client Access Policy; thanks to Deb on her wonderful blog Real Public Librarian

"Behaviour that would be reasonably considered inappropriate in the context of a library (such as wild dancing or making frightening gestures)"

I must own up here to seeing a fair number of library users, frutrated by badly designed front desk queuing systems, definitely making some frightening gestures: maybe the next step will indeed be wild dancing.

New Oswestry Library: front line librarians make a powerful difference to the space design

2008-10-20T08:52:00.000-07:00

What with the current debacle in the media and in many librarian blogs over Culture Minister Andrew Burnham’s recent speech at The Public Library Authority Conference in Blackpool It was great to get a letter from Shropshire Library Service, celebrating the opening of the New Oswestry Library. This had real significance for me, as I helped the Oswestry Library team work on their plans for this library. It served to reinforce what I have long experienced through my work: give front line librarians the right opportunity, tools and methods, through a purposeful workshop event, and they will be empowered to take the lead in briefing architects and space designers, and will put forwards creative, realistic and achievable design ideas. The project has taken longer than expected but has been well worth the wait. In the first two days of opening, they had nearly a thousand people through the doors. And I’m delighted that my work with them made a difference.

“Your workshop proved invaluable as an important step in the design process. It helped us to think creatively and also helped the architects and designers to understand what we wanted. After your workshop we consulted with our customers through newsletters and displays and we also held a number of themed focus groups – children and young people, access, parents, local history. All this work has been used to inform the final design. As a result we have a spacious, flexible and exciting space, which we hope will prove popular with both customers and staff”
Principal Librarian, North Shropshire

I can’t wait to visit the new library at Oswestry for their “official” opening in a couple of months time.

Why Diversity Matters

2008-10-16T07:42:00.000-07:00

Meeting so many heritage groups across the English regions has been one of the exciting aspects of my work with Heritage Link. People are so passionate about their particular heritage focus; be it historic buildings, gardens, museums and the built environment. So I enjoyed presenting on the Embracing Difference project to many members of these groups at Heritage Link's South West Regional event this week, and having more conversations about why diversity matters.

It was also an opportunity to launch Heritage Link's new Diversity Website an exciting way of continuing the legacy, now the formal programme has ended. As my work on the Programme came to completion I wanted to ensure that my final report, downloadable from this site, truly captured how we have helped to broaden understanding of diversity, and also helped people to develop their own inspirational projects.

Local History Groups and Hidden Stories

2008-10-06T13:53:00.000-07:00

Meeting and working with members of local history groups across the British regions is an important aspect of my work. Black History groups are doing essential and valuable work in bringing little known stories to our attention. Many of these stories have been hidden in the footnotes of history. One story has particularly struck me, researched by BRIGHTON AND HOVE BLACK HISTORY it shows the significant contribution of Frederick Ackbar Mahomed to medical research. Born in Brighton in 1849, he studied medicine, and became a member of The Royal College of Surgeons. Ackbar won the Physical Society prize for two years running, for developing work on the sphygmograph: this was the first non intrusive instrument for measuring blood pressure. Ackbar died aged 35 and is buried in Highgate Cemetery, London. There are many other fascinating examples of black history on this site, much of it due to the dedicated work of Bert Williams

The role of artists in broadening understanding of diversity

2008-10-02T14:15:00.000-07:00

Writing the final report for a two year diversity programme has involved much reflection about the process, methodology and outcomes from the regional workshops. I've been thinking how the artists that participated in the workshops made such an inspirational impact. They sparked off fresh thinking and encouraged heritage organisations to look in new ways at the valuable assets they hold, historic buildings, gardens, collections, and to see how they can exploit these to reach out to people who may well think "heritage" is not for them.

Sculptor and curator Jolanta Jagiello took part in three of the workshops. I met her at the private view of her extraordinary exhibition: Dream Landings. Her exhibition space was the entire Bedding Department at John Lewis, Watford. Here she curated a moving and inspirational collection of the work of artists that reflected the hopes, dreams and experiences of immigrants to Britain. In one stroke she overturned the idea of conventional gallery space, and brought the artists' work to the broadest range of people. Her presentation about this project sowed seeds, and helped to inspire the director of a national organisation for small and historic towns and villages to take up the baton and devise a project to engage young people in rural communities in the history of slavery in their own areas.

And Jolanta found the workshops were a two way experience. She was inspired by the materials activities and speakers on the Bicentennial marking of the Abolition of Slavery on British ships, to curate an outdoor exhibition at Morley College on the life of the former enslaved man, and black abolitionist: Eluado Equiano. Here a group of artists used a grove of trees as a backdrop to express deep insights on the experiences of enslaved people.

Many who attended the diversity workshops were passionately involved in their own focus on heritage work, and exposure to expert practitioners in Arts and Business, and the performing arts provided a yeast to the mix, broadening their view and encouraging them to formulate their own innovative diversity projects.

Project Managing a Diversity Programme across five regions

2008-09-26T14:22:00.000-07:00

Several people have contacted me asking why there has been quite a gap in my blog posts. Well, I have been project managing a tremendously exciting and demanding two-year Diversity Programme for Heritage Link, ( Embracing Difference) across five English regions and funded by English Heritage. It has been a wonderful experience, and quite a journey! literally and metaphorically. In the course of this programme I have had wide ranging conversations about diversity with people in the front line of community work and the voluntary heritage sector. The work has entailed devising and
facilitating purpose designed workshops that help people to broaden their understanding of diversity, and also supporting one of the major outcomes: 5 creative and achievable diversity projects, that have reached out to new audiences, including people who have previously thought that "heritage" was not for them. My full report will be available on the Diversity pages of the newly designed Heritage Link Website, to be launched on October 14th 2008.

Planning New School Buildings: teacher involvement

2008-09-26T11:54:00.000-07:00

I have a sense of deja vue over the newly published report, calling for greater teacher involvement in the development of new school buildings A major conclusion from the discussions was that the success of the programme was threatened by "a lack of interaction between architects and teachers". This is exactly the problem that I encounter when working with librarians on new Public Library Design

The report argues that a named individual in each building process should be responsible for ensuring teachers are fully engaged and supported from beginning to end and that time should be freed up from teachers’ working lives to make sure they can by involved. Teacher involvement is seen as "an unprecedented opportunity to create amazing, functional and inspiring schools for the benefit of the tax payer and all those who use the schools."

It's fine to look for a design champion, but what is missing is a proven methodology
for helping teachers to ensure their expertise and creativity can make a real impact on the design proposals. Otherwise this may be yet another tick boxing excercise.

I'd like to hear the views of teachers on this, what has been their experience so far of "involvement" in the Schools Building Programme?

Designing Space for Learning-meaningful engagement of staff and students in the design process

2008-09-21T10:31:00.000-07:00

At the moment there is much in the media about the school building programme. One of the issues is the need to engage teachers and students early on in the design process and before architects have drawn up completed plans. Teachers are the experts, and modern learning methods have massively changed over the past few years, and no doubt will continue to change and develop. Modern learning spaces need to be flexible to allow for this. This resonates with my work, where using leading edge techniques all the users of a proposed building are able to put forwards their design solutions that will best serve their needs and purposes. This can then be used to brief architects and designers. In a piece of work commissioned for City University we led a focus group workshop for students to identify the most effective and creative use of a "third physical space" for students. The existing space had a good deal of unrealised potential and it was striking how the participants were able in a limited amount of time, to produce indicative space designs. These showed how central creativity is to their learning needs and aspirations and proved very valuable in briefing the space designers.

Effective Environments For Knowledge and Learning

2006-09-21T14:49:00.000-07:00

Sage journals have a current offer of free online access until October 18th 06, no registration required. You can access my recent article in Business Information Review: Effective Environments For Knowledge and Learning,here is the abstract:

Physical space design is important for achieving excellence in learning and knowledge environments. Key influences on knowledge environments are outlined, drawn from theatre and television design, museums and learning, and writing. These influences have led to core design principles for the design of knowledge intensive spaces, including libraries. The use of metaphor has historically proved to be a rich source of inspiration for designers and architects, and this is a key principle for engaging all players in physical space design. Vertical space and lighting are discussed as currently underused resources in many business and learning environments. The vital importance is discussed of engaging front-line workers in a co-determinative design process. The concept is explored of informed and proactive clients, fully engaging with architects and space planners. Such a process is cost effective, and leads to innovative excellent knowledge space, though not always requiring extensive budgets. Business environments can learn much when planning knowledge and learning space from examples drawn from other areas, including libraries and universities which have actively used a process of innovation and experimentation in knowledge space design. A new paradigm of active learning is itself causing universities and other learning institutions to reevaluate the role of physical space in enhancing learning opportunities. Physical space design is one key to effective knowledge and learning environments, requiring a collaborative design process, and a methodology that is underpinned by core principles specific to knowledge work.

An excellent knowledge space: The Dublin Writers Museum

2006-08-27T13:50:00.000-07:00

In researching further into the ways that libraries can learn from other types of knowledge space, I have discovered The Dublin Writers Museum, which very successfully combines best practice from museums and from libraries. It is situated in an eighteenth century house, next to The Irish Writers Centre.The Museum was established to promote interest, through its collections, displays and activities, in Irish Literature. The collections are fascinating and eclectic, portraits of Irish writers are everywhere, together with pens, typerwriters and personal artefacts, such as Samuel Beckett's telephone, and Brendan Behan's union card. Books are of course a main feature, including many rare first editions. The building has space for a restaurant, an events space, permanent and temporary exhibits, and The Gorham Library. There is also a room devoted to children's literature. It is a wonderful and engaging space devoted to the phenomenon of Irish writing, and by being physically sited next to The Irish Writers Centre, provides a link with contemporary Irish Literature. There is a great deal here to be inspired by, for any library looking to market its service by using the physical space for optimum potential to engage a wide diversity of visitors.

Creatively exploiting space to market a learning service

2006-08-14T14:56:00.000-07:00

I'm looking further at international models of space as a marketing tool towards a
forthcoming workshop in September for CILIP: Exploiting Library Design as key tool in Marketing. So a visit to.The New York Tenement Museum. gave much food for thought. I believe the museums sector can learn much from libraries, and vice-versa. This pioneering museum believes that history is a tool for learning and understanding contemporary issues, including increasing understanding of American Immigration. It is housed in a real turn of the century tenement building, preserved almost untouched.
This Museum has embarked on a truly innovative way of using their physical space to promote their work: "Dinner in a Tenement Block". So the East Side Tenement Kitchen is offered as an historic space for "intimate dinner parties" or "cocktail receptions", together with a guided tour, which when I visited, was movingly conducted by a grandchild of a Jewish German resident of this tenement in the 1920's.
The key here is a public space and learning resource being mined in a truly innovatory way to promote their work. There is something here I feel for libraries to latch on to. Libraries are key public spaces, often underused "out of hours", perhaps there are more creative possibilities for interesting social events, which could also bring in revenue, and help to reinforce the concept of library buildings as central to the community.

Brighton Jubilee Library, an inspiring public library

2006-08-09T14:11:00.000-07:00

The run up to the summer break has seen me busy writing articles. The current issue of.Update. the journal of The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, is dedicated to library architecture and design. My article on The Jubilee Library Brighton concentrates on the pleasure of use of this inspiring yet restrained public library design. The architects Bennetts Associates have produced a magnificent building which has attracted huge media interest, winning nine awards, including accolades in The Public Library Building Awards 2005.
The design honours a sense of place, a valued local service, and commitment to full and ready access for all. It avoids architects' self indulgence, or cheap and cheerful solutions such as the banal book shop mentality.

Designing a new public library, the essential role of front line staff

2006-07-26T12:28:00.000-07:00

Working through a design process that is truly inclusive of front line staff is a key part of my philosophy and consultancy. We were recently commissioned to work with librarians to develop a design concept for the interior library space of . the New Feltham Library Hounslow. The new space is almost twice the size of the old 1960's building and part of an important development to transform Feltham's town centre for the benefit of all the Feltham communities. A space design workshop with staff at all levels, produced highly creative ideas put forward by librarians. These were used to brief our interior designer. The results include a children's area with a purpose designed bay for art and design activities, with nearby resources on parenting and health care, a "sunburst" focal point of book stacks, and two spacious meeting rooms for community use. Understanding and reflecting the diverse communities in Feltham was an essential part of this design project.

Expanding Boundaries in Design

2006-07-14T14:31:00.000-07:00

There is a forthcoming fascinating conference.
Expanding Boundaries in Design. together with an exhibition on participative and electronic art, at The Museum of Modern Art of Trento and Roverto: Italy. The interactive art works incorporate participative processes which support new forms of engagement for audiences. They question and challenge the roles of artists and visitors, using RFID tags, sensors, internet technologies and motion tracking systems. The public are invited to participate in a collective performance, together with The Sine Wave Orchestra, and to bring electronic devices that can play a sine wave, such as laptop pc's, mobile phones or PDA's, and loudspeaker equipped i-pods. It sounds fun, and is also really pushing the boundaries to engage new audiences.

Judy Jetson's review of The Burton Barr Central Library Arizona

2006-07-01T13:41:00.000-07:00

There’s a great site with reviews of old and new buildings.Walt Lockley.that includes a tongue in cheek review and wonderful pictures of The Burton Barr Central Library Arizona, from the point of view of Judy Jetson. Judy is a stereotypical teenager of the future, from the cartoon series The Jetsons. Her life revolves around fashion, boys, shopping and endless phone calls. The review is an insight on how some young adults might look at public libraries, and made me think further about how little opportunity there actually is in Britain for teenagers to speak out about their thoughts and views on libraries.
Through Judy’s eyes the Burton Barr library is a fantastic public space, “comfortable, elegant and fun” and it’s also a space you can visit on a whim and yet feel productive,“the perfect space to read and write in”.
"She" is also very accepting of the idea of a public library as a space where the homeless can hang out in too. Maybe we need more reviews of our public libraries from real Judy Jetsons, so any young adults who have views on their library are welcome to give them as comments to this blog

The Cost of Bad Design

2006-06-21T16:28:00.000-07:00

London is currently hosting a major programme of events celebrating architecture . Architecture Week. runs from 16th to 25th June. The diversity of events is extraordinary, including access to many of London’s hidden architectural gems. And it is good to see a healthy movement towards bringing architecture to account, with a debate about what happens when buildings and public spaces go wrong through bad design. Cabe has just launched The Cost of Bad Design Publication,and anyone who has a particular building or space they hate can e-mail them at E.bmathews@cabe.org.uk with a photo and a note of explanation.

Exploiting library design as a key tool in marketing the service

2006-06-03T12:36:00.000-07:00

Library professionals are increasingly engaged in marketing their service, and yet although experience shows that space design offers tremendous marketing opportunities it is so often a neglected area in marketing the library service.
There are two key reasons for this: firstly the perception that innovative and successful design ideas always entail large budgets and complete library refurbishments, or new library buildings. The second is that design is so often not perceived as 'marketing'. And marketing consultants involved are not expert in the design and layout of libraries: specialist and complex spaces. So the marketing recommendations they give focus on areas they are more familiar with, such as branding. My forthcoming workshop in September
Exploiting library design as a key tool in marketing. focuses on the central role of library professionals in exploiting innovative library design for marketing initiatives. To read an overview of the workshop on the Cilip website, click on 2006 Training Workshops, then on Themes for 2006, followed by Marketing and Promotion Workshops.

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina:metaphor and space

2006-05-29T09:26:00.000-07:00

In Umberto Eco's lecture: "Vegetal and Mineral Memory, the future of books" he says
"to build or better rebuild, today, one of the greatest libraries of the world might be a challenge or a provocation". The extraordinary new Bibliotheca Alexandrina marks the rebirth of the institution founded over 2,000 years ago in Egypt, by Ptolemy the First.
The library is part of an international cultural centre, including two museums, exhibition galleries and a planetarium. The whole building is conceived as a solar disc, partly sunk 18 metres below sea level, and tipped towards the sea. The solar metaphor seems appropriate as the ancient library was the place where Aristachus first suggested the earth rotated around the sun.
The main reading hall is designed in a remarkable way. Over 70,000 square metres are spanned over 11 levels in a series of terraces. This cascade effect ensures that the wonderful views of the space are not restricted by the height of bookstacks. And to date the total number of books in the library's open stacks is 259,093. I have not previously encountered such an innovatory use of floor levels and terracing in a library, and wondered if there are other examples?

The Question of Library Shops: The Book Lovers' Shop at The Jubilee Library Brighton

2006-05-19T14:08:00.000-07:00

In the present climate of retail type library design solutions, it is ironic that there is some criticism from designers about public libraries giving any kind of space to their own retail outlets in their buildings, and some quite scathing: “who ever makes money out of selling pencils and erasers? “. Apart from the fact that many major retailers probably do very well out of selling just that, maybe a point is being missed here. Making a profit is by no means the only purpose behind a well-designed and sensitively stocked library shop. The Jubilee Library's shop in Brighton is called The Book Lovers'Shop. Cannily situated in the entrance lobby to this exciting and award winning building, the shop is an added attraction to the library. As its name suggests it is stocked with all kinds of intriguing items that relate to the pleasures of reading. But a key point is that it is staffed by members of the library team, and so acts as an informal and welcoming first point of call. The staff can answer general enquiries about the new library, give directions and be a friendly face. Of course not all public libraries are in the position of being able to give over the amount of space for a shop such as The Jubilee Library’s, however when working on library design issues with librarians, I have often been told that having some kind of retail outlet is important to their visitors, who appreciate the opportunity to purchase items such as post cards and local history books. The vital element is good design and display, which can be achieved in the smallest space.
I would be interested to hear views from librarians, and any successful and unusual examples of library shops.

The Museum of Science, Valencia, a 21st Century space for learning

2006-04-29T15:19:00.000-07:00

A recent research visit to this spectacular museum in Valencia, part of The Cuidad de las Artes y las Cientas, with its monumental proportions, has led me to think further on the links between the design of physical space and opportunities for learning. The building has a 30,000 square metre exhibition area, and their motto is “touching is always permitted”. The third storey of the museum houses an extraordinary exhibit: “Life and The Genome”, an outstanding display of the appearance, diversification and evolution of life. This complex subject leads to an enormous amount of content which has been designed in a way that allows visitors to go in as deeply as they wish. For example, The Forest of Chromosomes, where each pair of chromosomes is connected to interactive modules. It was fascinating to observe visitors taking their own paths through the exhibition, which has no predetermined order, and allows them to become familiar with a complex subject which previously has been only familiar to scientists. The design of the building, by architect Santiago Calatrava is absolutely key to this groundbreaking learning experience.

Space for Knowledge: The Gulbenkian Prize for Museums and Galleries

2006-04-11T14:33:00.000-07:00

The Hunterian Museum is one of ten museums competing for the largest prize in the UK, £100,000. Gulbenkian Prize.
This Museum has undergone a massive transformation recently, and the new design of the galleries beautifully displays the interaction of science, art and and medicine in the 18th century.
Other galleries in the museum reveal the evolution of of modern surgery. The entire space promotes the use of the museum's collection for teaching and research. The space is an entrancing revelation, not just about the work of the surgeon and naturalist, John Hunter, but also a fantastic example of a physical space used to the full to promote knowlege, teaching and research.

Bold use of Library space for Marketing to Young Adults

2006-03-26T12:43:00.000-08:00

For a fantastic and bold use of library space as a key way of marketing to young adults, view Rambling Librarian:Digital Realm of Music.
The newly opened Jurong Regional Public Library has just held an event on the history of guitar amplification, a talk, plus a demo of sounds used by some of the greats: Eric Clapton, Slash, Jimi Hendrix. Better still they are offering the use of the substantial Verging on Teens library space, bookable in to 13 to 25 year olds in any band, who need a performance platform. As nearly every teenager I know is either in a band or aspires to be in one, and all are desperate for a space do it in, this is obviously a prime attractor for young people, and what else could make hanging out in a library so utterly cool.

A library that Fully Integrates Cafe and Social Space

2006-03-12T08:25:00.000-08:00

There has been an interesting comment on my Jurong Community library posting, about an American library that fully integrates social and cafe space. I think this might be The Johnson Centre, at George Mason University: Virginia. It is a cutting edge design that combines the library with a refectory and "Food Court". The concept behind this is to produce an environment where students can integrate their academic studies with other learning activities, producing high levels of collaboration and interaction. There are links with the Jurong model, as there are no physical barriers or restrictions to users browsing books in the entire space, including the refectory and other social areas.

Community Libraries, a fresh perspective in Jurong, Singapore

2006-03-09T11:43:00.000-08:00

The £80 million Community Library Initiative is building up steam, and from recent experience of workshops with public librarians I believe we have now happily moved beyond the books versus digital resources debate for public libraries. Its more a question of how best to integrate books, computers, learning and study spaces in an inspiring and flexible way to suit the ever changing needs of users. The newly opened and re-located West Jurong Community Library in Singapore is piloting an exciting initiative, one that engages local communities and gives them a sense of ownership. For a hands on view of this, take a look at Incidental thoughts of a Singapore Liblograrian.
The library has re-located to a three story building that also houses several other community spaces, including a local community club. They have doubled the physical space of the library, and interestingly increased their collections by 30%. The real innovation is their experimental "integrated learning environment". This allows users to browse any book and take it to any part of the building, so expanding the learning and study areas beyond the physical boundaries of the library, into other community spaces. Books are issued at stations on the ground floor of the library.
The scheme is being piloted and evaluated before decisions are made to continue with this model.

An intriguing design at The British Library provokes conversations

2006-02-27T06:26:00.000-08:00

There is an intriguing piece of furniture on the first floor lobby at The British Library. It is called the Lean Back: a 7ft contoured plank of wood with upholstered sections and a shelf for your feet. It leans gently back at a slight angle. The idea is to prop yourself up, half way between sitting and standing. The library has arranged several of these around a low table. I observed how people reacted to it, and some seemed initialy a little wary of trying it. However once I propped myself up on it I discovered that complete strangers also gravitated towards the Lean Backs and a very interesting discussion ensued, about their seating likes and dislikes in the library. They are ergonomicaly designed to take strain off the lower back, and once you get used to the idea, extremely comfortable. They do appear to provoke conversations, and would be excellent for short meetings and discussions. I'd be interested in comments from people who have tried them out.

Library Design as Marketing: the Swedish Experience

2006-02-17T09:04:00.000-08:00

I have been reviewing good practice in libraries internationally, and Sweden in particular. When recently touring these libraries, it is striking that Swedish library design has produced powerful marketing lessons, that are particularly pertinent for UK libraries. This is discussed further in my article, Library Design as Marketing, the Swedish experience.

Design offers libraries one of their greatest marketing opportunities, and drawing on good practice in three libraries, Malmo, Gothenburg and the Jonkoping County Lbraries, it is clearly seen that design is used to follow through "the six P's of public library marketing". These are product, place, promotion,participants, physical evidence, and process.

Malmo made a decision when planning their new library to view the whole building as a marketing opportunity and successfully implemented a design process that fully involved the librarians. However large marketing and design budgets are not always essential, as the Jonkoping library project shows. This harnesses and then realises the library design ideas of children and young people, in a visionary way.

Fundamental to the success of achieving marketing aims through the physical design, is an approach that engages design professionals who are committed to working with front line staff and the public.

An Innovative Health Resource and Information Centre

2006-02-02T14:29:00.000-08:00

I have recently researched Guys and St Thomas’s Hospital Trust’s innovative resource centre (KIC). This is an example of successfully upholding knowledge space design principles, in a modest sized space. The aim is to cut across barriers, and in accordance with the move towards patient led health care, making good quality health care information visible and accessible to patients, staff and visitors. Attention has been given to ambience and the quality of the environment, which is free of physical barriers, such as long book stacks, and large daunting information counters. There is relaxed seating, and a variety of computer access points, an oval meeting table for group discussions, and a plasma screen for world news, which ties in with the organisation's role as a National Incident Centre.
It is well documented that art can have a powerful effect on our well being, the centre has used the vertical space to enhance this aspect, with a world first example of a glass wall, “Window of Art” featuring commissioned poems on themes of health and well-being, by poet Valerie Law. These are illuminated in sequence using electroluminescent technology.
This small flexible space hosts numerous events and drop in clinics. Radical space design ideas have been implemented here on a relatively small budget.

Making Space for Knowledge

2006-01-07T14:35:00.000-08:00

I've received a number of e-mails over the holiday period asking about my consultative work. This brief overview may answer some of these.

We are a niche consultancy that has developed a track record and reputation for using leading edge techniques to enable knowledge intensive organisations, including libraries, to exploit their physical and virtual space to the fullest potential. We are creative, innovative and experienced practitioners, providing a catalyst for good ideas, with a proven ability to challenge conventional thinking. Our strength is helping to create engagement between sponsors, front line staff and architects, whilst looking for solutions that are both more cost effective than those derived from “vanilla” design approaches, and which have significantly more commitment to their implementation from the front line staff. The aim is to achieve high value to consumers from imaginative methods.

Our contribution to the space design process includes identifying and understanding fundamental needs and developing design concepts, and the outline brief in tendering for architects. We can produce interior layout design/plans, a detailed brief for negotiations/arguments with the architect after appointment, together with actual specifications to budget for fitting out spaces and post evaluation review.

Based on extensive contacts and international research, we have gained an excellent reputation as animateurs of stimulating events with high levels of participation. These can act as a catalyst for fresh ideas towards fully exploiting the physical space for learning and other knowledge opportunities. We also offer space design workshops and national and international study tours of innovative knowledge space,including libraries.

Building the Best Knowledge Spaces

2005-12-19T16:23:00.000-08:00

There is an important question posed at the end of a reflection about Knowledge Space at
Knowledge-at-work.

"What theory and principles would you use to build the best knowledge space?"

It is often the case when looking at knowledge spaces that many organisations don't look for specialist help, although they may fully understand the need for specialist help in other areas of a building, such as heating, air quality and lighting. To achieve the best knowledge spaces, the design process has to be underpinned by core design principles, that specifically address the key aims of knowledge creation and sharing. Experience shows these encompass areas that architects and space planners often neglect, such as the prime importance of mining the vertical space, including walls, for displays, exhibits and other knowledge opportunities, also engaging the expertise of front line knowledge workers in the whole design process, and using practical experimentation and innovation at every stage. An approach to knowledge space design that lacks this understanding and experience of the issues, can lead at worst to "knowledge space disasters", or at best to expensively designed space that does not fulfil its knowledge potential.

Metaphor, a powerful tool for knowledge space design

2005-11-09T13:37:00.000-08:00

The Nautilus is my logo, chosen to represent one of my core principles for Knowledge Space Design, the use of metaphor. Metaphor is a powerful tool when envisaging new libraries and other knowledge spaces. Pliny described the nautilus as "one of nature's greatest wonders", its structure has inspired mathematicians, architects, writers and artists. Impressive and beautiful in its complexity: for mathematicians the nautilus structure approximates the Fibonacci series of numbers, and for artists, the Golden Section or Ratio.
I chose it as a metaphor to represent my work, because it is an organism that grows its own space, as it develops, and according to its needs, and such powerful metaphors are an essential inspiration for designing enriched and effective library and knowledge spaces. By harnessing a whole range of inspirational metaphors, libraries would not be restricted in their vision by the current drive, in British library design, of metaphors drawn from the retail trade. I am interested in examples of inspirational metaphors used as a basis for the design of libraries and
the full range of other knowledge and learning spaces.

The Influence of Theatre Design on Knowledge and Learning Spaces

2005-11-04T13:22:00.000-08:00

In a recent interview Franklin Becker of Cornell University: a leading expert on learning and physical space, said that, "Theatre set designers will be one of the most influential professions in the future design of learning spaces". This fits closely with my own experience, as my background in theatre design is one of the major influences on my space projects with libraries and other knowledge organisations. The lessons I learned in my career as a theatre designer now inform all my work on knowledge space design. Theatre designers engage in a collaborative evolution of a production, one that is fuelled by continual practical experiments in a truly flexible space. This design process engages the whole production team, and is non-hierarchical: the expertise of actors, directors, technicians, designers, are all actively sought and valued, and this is with the common purpose of envisaging and achieving the physical space that will inspire and engage all those who enter into it. Inspiration and engagement should surely be key components of libraries, and all physical spaces for learning. But is this the process that learning organisations, including libraries, put into place when embarking on major building projects?

Rich and Exciting Spaces are Achieved through Progressive Methods

2005-10-29T15:33:00.000-07:00

I recently attended a fascinating event held by the newly hatched EGG CHILDREN'S THEATRE. This was an opportunity to tour the space, just opened, and talk with the architects. These progressive architects engaged their clients in a design process that closely follows the working methods I use with great success. In this case the clients are children and young people. Key to the success, was engaging the clients in a truly interactive design process over five years. Children took part in the interviews of prospective architects, and then were given the consultative skills to act as champions for the project, going out into schools,and the community, and eliciting design ideas. They were taken on study visits to other Children's Theatres, and worked with professional diversity and access consultants. The ideas these clients brought forward became the essential design brief for the architect.
What struck me from this is how children and young people are unencumbered by the usual deference to architects, and don't, as adults do, get mystefied by "flannel" and "architect speak". The architect said that had they "not taken part in this innovative process, but just gone along with our preconceptions about what a kids theatre should be, we would have produced an entirely different space, and not achieved this enriched, and extraordinarily successful building", a space that entirely fits the client's needs and aspirations. This follows closely with my experience of working with clients, and has proven to be a most successful method. My experience is that it is possible to to design space that goes the extra mile, producing inspirational, heightened space , like The Egg Theatre, but only if those who use, or may potentialy use the space, are given a key role in the design process, and only if the architects are progressive enough to listen and engage in a meaningful way with the client.

How Physical Space Design Affects Learning

2005-10-26T05:33:00.000-07:00

How learning institutions design their physical space can either promote learning opportunities to a high degree or stymie them. I collaborated on a new build project for a university school of nursing and midwifery. Students spent six months working "in the field": practical hands on training in remote, isolated rural areas .
What did these students need on their return to the university home base?
Their answer was not really formal teaching space, such as lecture rooms. They needed spaces for face- to- face meetings with their peer group, and social learning space was key to this. Their primary need was to share their "stories", to share best practice with students and teachers, to exchange and consolidate valuable personal learning.
A successful space design for these learning needs, combines social spaces: such as cafes, informal events space for talks and exhibits, with high-tech (computer access) and space for learning resources. It is only by engaging with the people who use the space and listening to their insights that we can avoid knowledge space disasters: buildings that simply do not respond to or promote learning in its fullest sense.

Library Space Etiquette

2005-10-25T09:11:00.000-07:00

The rules and/or permissions of using libraries may be tacitly understood or, as I have often found, posted up as a rash of "Do Not's" over any available wall space. This lighthearted VIDEO CLIP underlines a serious issue, how can the layout of the space affect the etiquette of how it is used, and how can design help to resolve people's conflicting needs? Noise is a contentious issue in many libraries, but there is also a whole raft of other questions of etiquette. Observant viewers of this clip may spot quite a few of these, and blog comments on all aspects of library etiquette are welcome.

Active Consultation: a Core Principle in Knowledge Space Design

2005-10-21T16:22:00.000-07:00

One of my core principles for successful design of knowledge space, including libraries, is active consultation with front line staff, and in the case of public libraries, with of course, the public.
By active consultation, I mean a process that meaningfully harnesses the expertise and knowledge of knowledge workers, the people who actualy work in the space. My research shows that progressive architects welcome working with strong, rather than passive clients, this is because a "muscular" collaboration with informed and confident clients has a more auspicious outcome: buildings that work for the people who use them. When I see design briefs for new buildings that include the words "we have consulted widely", I question what exactly does that mean, and what process was used. Examples of passive consultation that I have encountered in proposed public library new builds include: a display of architectural drawings in the existing library, already "set in stone", with a comments box. Of course the general public often find architectural plans difficult or impossible to understand, without interpretation. And is there a meaningful process in place to further engage people in a dialogue about their comments?There is also the questionnaire approach:a real example of this is -
Which of the following do you want in the new library?
More books: Public Toilets: Increased IT: A Teen Zone
Results: 75% wanted Public Toilets, 9% wanted a Teen Zone.
Interestingly only 14% of the respondents were aged between 12 and 18 years.

Design of Library Space is Key to Attracting Young People

2005-10-14T16:43:00.000-07:00

A posting called SERVING (AND SURVIVING)TEENS puts forward a view that the physical space of libraries may possibly be no longer a priority for young people. I believe the design of libraries is indeed the key element to attracting young people, and to remain relevant to these potential library users we need a radical re-think of library space . With fast increasing technological developments young people can text, phone, e-mail, surf the net, from almost any physical location: its an exciting culture, so what can libraries offer? I believe these developments in remote communication actualy increase their craving for direct human interaction. And, just like adults, young people also need a quiet place to think and reflect, and study, with computer access, for many don't have this in their homes and schools. Libraries should be offering all these elements. Young people are into their own culture, including music, sport, TV, film, books, fashion, global events, environmental issues, and a lot more. They often want to hang out with like-minded young people to explore these interests and issues, but is the typical British Public Library offering a "cool" place to do do this? In a recent research visit to Sweden, I was very impressed by Malmo City Library's approach to this, for example, they have highly popular electronic pianos (with headphones) where young people can practice, compose, and complete music projects.
We need to find out what young people actualy want from local libraries, and this needs to be done through a meaningful process that truly engages them in the design of the library space, not the usual passive "tick box" consultation.

Are libraries relevant to young people?

2005-10-12T17:04:00.000-07:00

I did some action research recently in a central public library. The efforts made to engage young people seemed to be mainly signage: "Teen Zone" etc. but the area in question was in essence no different to any other part of the library, except for "teen books" on the shelves. It was completely deserted. I wandered into the children's "zone" and found a cluster of 14 to 16 year olds on the computers, surrounded by signs saying "computers only for the use of under 14's"
"Why are you in the kid's library, and not the teen zone?"
answers variously:
"I didn't know there was one" "I like it in here, it's quiet at this time of day, and no one hassles us"
"I dont like being called a teen, and there's nothing there for us"
I couldn't disagree, young people feel deeply patronised by this "teen" labelling, do we have"over 50's zones"? And do these zones exist mainly to put young people " in their place"?
a physical space ghetto, that placates other library users who find their presence disturbing. And what is in these zones to make young people want to make the journey? Far too often it's just a token stand- alone computer, a magazine rack, and some "teen books".

What's in a Name? The Blanding of Libraries

2005-10-06T15:52:00.000-07:00

I found Chrystie Hill's blogpiece at WEBJUNCTION a refreshingly upfront view of the future of libraries. When considering how public libraries in Britain are to stay relevant in the 21st Century, I wonder if the renaming or "rebranding" of libraries is a sympton of loss of confidence in the real potential of libraries.
Ten years ago the new brand was "One Stop Shops", a misguided attempt in my view to turn libraries into Council Service Points. Now the new brand is often drawn from retail metaphors: stores, shops, resource centres etc. It is perhaps ironic that behind this is a desire to reinvent the library, but in doing so subscribing to the same ethos that is fast cloning every bookstore on the highstreet, while smaller distinctive bookshops are swallowed up. So too with libraries the distinctive, the unique, the "special to that neighbourhood" are risking being subsumed into the bland and familiar. Libraries are simply not bookstores, and in the search for the full range of what 21st century libraries might be, I am increasingly looking at what libraries are not, and welcome other contributions and thoughts on this.

Workspace Design for Creativity and Innovation

2005-10-04T14:35:00.000-07:00

There is an interesting view about innovation and office design THE FUTURE OF WORK which strongly supports the business case for more time, attention and resources being spent on workspace design. I believe it is rather a case that such resources are often spent, yet simply misdirected. Innovation and creativity are now acknowledged as key drivers of business performance, yet in Britain from my experience, the vital importance of workspace design to support these drivers, is woefully misunderstood and neglected. Even when organisations seem to take on the potential impact of creativity and innovation, they fail to carry through the necessary research and involvement of knowledge- space specialists in the design process when commissioning new buildings. This is extraordinary, for they have no difficulty in understanding the need for specialist expertise in say, the heating or electrical design of a building. I have found that those who work in the space are in many ways the real experts, and when offered the opportunity and methodology to truly engage in the design process with a specialist who can draw out their insights, they can effectively brief those progressive architects who understand the vital importance of effective and specialist imput, which after all compliments and enhances their architectural skills, rather than replacing them.

Decisions about Colour in Public Building Projects

2005-10-02T12:30:00.000-07:00

Choosing a signature architect may, or may not, increase the status of a building project. It can significantly decrease the chances of your local needs being met.
I recently took part in a group visit to a new theatre and arts project that includes a cinema and library. The cinema was decorated throughout in a strident and gloomy palette of dark pungent blues: ceiling, walls, carpeting and seating. The overall effect was oppressive, like being plunged into a dank, depressing subterranean cave. One of the group asked, “why is it so dark blue?” The answer given was that from the start, the powers that be were adamant that they wanted a “signature” architect, and a “flagship” building. The architect had a track record of a highly individual use of colour. And in fact when presented with the colour scheme, many people had baulked at the relentless blueness, and exactly this same question about the colour had been asked. They were told, “trust me, I’m the architect, we don’t want design by committee. If we ask you about your ideas on the colour, you will variously come up with, grey, yellow, cream, etc. and the result will be …beige” Not entirely convinced, the project leaders were then given a design “rationale”, that blue is a “relaxing” colour, and the overall effect the architect was striving for was that of “an ocean pool”.
The idea that “ordinary” people are quite unable to understand colour, or that they should have no say in the colour choices of a building is of course extremely patronising, often driven by a desire to force a sometimes idiosyncratic and personal view of colour held by the architect, on to the building. It is also entirely wrong from my experience, as given some expert guidance, and the right opportunities to experiment and discuss options, users of buildings are well able to make excellent choices about the important matter of colour. I have recently worked successfully with a colour expert, and know that anything dictatorial is to be avoided. We talked colour through with the users of the building, listened, and then provide a well researched choice of three very different but good complete colour schemes, then let them get on with it. Any of the three schemes would have worked well, although we had a preference, we kept quiet about it. Interestingly they chose our preference.

Communities and Public Library Design

2005-09-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

The design of public buildings and spaces are the key to communities and neighbourhoods having a sense of ownership, and to using them, this view is discussed concerning a recent Demos report, PEOPLE MAKE PUBLIC SPACES
The history of the public library affords vital insights into the success or failure of new library buildings. Public Libraries have long been key buildings in neighbourhoods, and even in the case of funded buildings, such as Carnegie libraries, they have preserved a distinctive and strong sense of identity for local communities. Some new public libraries are now designed as "landmark" buildings, designed by "signature " architects. In some cases these architects fail to respond to the needs of the local people, or the expertise of the library service, driven by their own particular architectural "vision". The building of a new public library is a major and costly event, the prime focus must be on the users, and potential users, not on a mad rush to adopt the particular current metaphors, "stores", "cafes" "hubs" etc. Will such libraries have a bright future? No one is forced to use a library, and with increasing high- tech. solutions in people's homes, only library buildings that are inspirational, truly reflecting people's need for social and human contact, will stay the course. To survive and thrive, as vital spaces for communities, we need libraries that are true theatres of knowledge, distinctively designed to reflect the unique needs of each locale.

Automated issue machines, library design implications

2005-09-22T17:13:00.000-07:00

I've noticed some very useful OBSERVATIONS BY A LIBRARY PROFESSIONAL about RFID . Radio Frequency Identification for book returns and issues is a hot topic for libraries. My particular interest is in the potential for a more creative use of the physical space now we have not just the possibility, but the reality of libraries without a main issue desk. When I work with libraries on space design, the location and size of the main issue desk is often one of the prime areas of focus. Even in libraries that "embrace" the idea of self- issue, either RFID or the magnetic/bar code type, there can be much reluctance to jettison the old model of a huge main issue desk, the decision being to retain it and add one or two token self-issue machines situated close to the desk. This can mean that library users, faced with "unknown" technology, gravitate towards the familiar, and join the queue at the desk. This can reinforce the idea that users dont like self-issue. Indeed I have seen situations where the a self-issue machine, next to the main desk, isn't switched on, because " the customers don't like using it"!
One of the interesting implications is a space design where this is reversed, with the focus on self- issue machines, and possibly one small staffed issue point. In many British libraries the main desk is still a bastion that incorporates book and AV issues and returns, and also serves as the main information point. Extensive desking such as this is extremely expensive, and by nature inflexible. Users gravitate towards it, forming several queues, adding to stress for both staff and users.
I have visited libraries in Sweden where the model is almost entirely self-issue and returns, with no main issue desk. One of the most interesting further developments of this, is the integration of small, single staff information desks located within different study areas and collections, adjacent to automated self issue machines. Returns are handled in the entrance area, with a staffed point if users need assistance. The rationale behind this is that most users want to be able to navigate a library by themselves, and many questions to staff could be cut down by excellent signage, clearer displays and arrangements of collections. A reduced need to answer questions about where things can be located in the library, frees up the staff to concentrate on searching for information and problem solving. Of course a radical change such as this may not be possible in many existing library spaces, as such flexibility requires optimum access to computer power, designed-in at the planning stage. However I've found that even in planning new buildings, or major refurbishments, the full implications of new technology, including RFID, on the overall space design, are simply not being explored, or budgeted for.

Third Space

2005-09-19T14:54:00.000-07:00

A timely article about THIRD SPACE has coincided with my recent visit over the weekend to the newly built Institute of Cell and Molecular Science at Queen Mary College in London. This led to fresh thoughts on the nature and importance of third spaces for knowledge sharing and creation. Third spaces are those places, including cafes, where we hang out to think, do creative work, regenerate ourselves, and sometimes meet socially. The Molecular Science building has a bright, contemporary cafe, but is not integrated into the main working space of the building, but across the plaza that links the two building sections.
Of course it was not possible to get a view on how this works for the users, as this section was closed to visitors over the weekend. However I've noticed in space design workshops that increasingly librarians bring case studies of libraries where a cafe has been designed in to a new build, and a year or so down the line the cafe closes, as it’s not proving successful in getting a throughput, or a particular user base, such as young adults, who avoid it like the plague, preferring to patronise local "cooler" venues. This leads me to think that where a cafe is situated in a library building is absolutely key, also that unless potential users are consulted in a meaningful way about what they want from a cafe, the project might be doomed to failure. For example, the term "internet cafe" is banded about a good deal in British public library design projects. This sadly can lead to a small area, bolted on to the overall space, an unimaginative design, with an ugly cluster of internet points and no relaxed seating for just sitting and thinking and maybe drinking coffee. I also wonder if truly successful third spaces need to grow in a more organic way in a building, and further, this could mean that libraries should set aside a variety of small spaces within the building, and give the users more autonomy on how they wish to configure them. Over the first year these spaces could be closely monitored, with users invited to give feedback, possibly with a space workshop for users, exploring what works and doesn’t, and capturing their ideas on developing the spaces further.
For many heavy users of libraries, like me, our third space is often a library.

Online Library Building Design Forum

2005-09-15T13:31:00.000-07:00

There's an interesting online LIBRARY BUILDING DESIGN FORUM DISCUSSION as part of Urban Design Week. Some of the topics are controversial, including Libraries in a Retail Environment. This really engages me, as I've recently co-designed a London public library: a partnership new build, and part of a retail complex. The word "retail" increasingly comes up in so many newspaper articles and discussions about the British public library service, and in many of the library design workshops I have run over the past two years,librarians make it clear that there is pressure on them to "look for retail solutions" for the space design. This invariably seems to mean importing templated design solutions from big bookchains, and many librarians are very uneasy about this, knowing that preserving a unique and distinctive identity for their particular library space, is of vital importance to their communities. I've found that once the opportunity is given to explore the real functions and values of their library, librarians discover a far richer palette of space design ideas than a one size fits all "retail" solution.

The New Seattle City Library and Art

2005-09-14T13:12:00.000-07:00

Coming from a theatre design and museums background I’m passionate about exciting ways of using the vertical space in libraries. There are libraries that fill every available wall space with ad hoc posters, notices and signage, at the other extreme some high profile architects issue edicts banning anything on the walls as it spoils their concept. The New Seattle City Library treats visitors to an exhilarating display of glass,and light. And the
ART IN SEATTLE LIBRARY mines the vertical surfaces of the library to their fullest potential. A number of artists have been commissioned to respond to the building with intriguing work, including video projections. I think there is a real missed opportunity in so many British libraries to use art to stimulate the exploration of knowledge. Of course such major art installations come at a price, and there is a downside to hi-tech art, in that it sometimes breaks down. However there is surely a place for possibly more modest projects using art as a stimulus, and I like Seattle’s “visual arts workspace” in the Young Adult Section, where teenagers can book in and use software to complete art and photography projects

Inspirational Spaces

2005-09-12T13:32:00.000-07:00

I can recommend the OPEN HOUSE weekend. This is a wonderful opportunity to visit some intriguing spaces and buildings in London, many rarely open to the public. From the perspective of my library design work, being able to explore some of these buildings is always informative, and often it's buildings that are not libraries that give me ideas and solutions for library spaces.

A Ponderosa Moment

2005-09-11T13:22:00.000-07:00

Just finished reading Julia Casterton’s new edition of Creative Writing, a Practical Guide: published by Palgrave Macmillan. It’s great when a wise teacher and fine writer shares their knowledge.
Julia asked me to contribute a new section to Performing Poetry, and after 10 years of MC’ing poetry events in London, it was interesting for me to distil my knowledge.
Her insights on narrative are wonderful, and I particularly like Julia’s idea of “The Ponderosa Moment”, as the moment of denouement in narrative, (those of us who watched the TV programme Bonanza in the 70’s will get this). It was a cowboy drama, and every week after some adventure with cattle rustlers etc. they would end by sitting around the kitchen table on the ranch and explain to each other how they had managed to sort the whole drama out and come out alive. Julia likens this to The Greek Chorus “where all questions are answered and any remaining mysteries resolved”. This resonated for me with the current use of narrative and story in knowledge management. Sometimes my poetry life connects very fruitfully with my knowledge management work, and I think this must be the case for many writers who have a second job.

Libraries- Let There Be Light !

2005-09-09T17:02:00.000-07:00

Librarians tell me one of the most depressing problems with library design is poor and unimaginative lighting. I've visited hundreds of libraries across Britain and although there are honourable exceptions, like the new Brighton library, so many public libraries don't even have lighting that is fit for the purpose-reading books! Coming from a theatre design background I know there is huge potential for using lighting to create an ambience, and when I work with librarians on space design, they come up with wonderful creative and practical lighting ideas. The problem seems to be in getting space planners and higher management to listen to these ideas at the planning stage and act on them. Maybe then we would have fewer libraries with lighting more suited to factory farming, than for 21st. century libraries.

The Kafeneion as Office

2005-09-08T18:35:00.000-07:00

During a recent break on the little Greek island of Symi I re-discovered the delights of the traditional Greek coffee shop, or kafeneion. It's always been the chosen place for locals to transact business, gossip and get the low-down, over a small strong cup of Greek coffee, and the occasional glass of ouzo. After all Lloyds of London started out in the 18th century in a city coffee shop. These days Symi does have a couple of internet cafes, but happily nothing seems to compete with the popularity of the kafeneion. It's also a condusive place for writers, the late Danish author Ejgil Soholm, found the buzzy Pachos' cafe, on the harbour front, a stimulating place to write. Things change slowly on Symi, and the kafeneions still have the same mix of local businessmen, visitors, fishermen and serious backgammon players, but I noticed the odd laptop too this year. It must be something to do with Mediterranean culture, but I have yet to find a decent equivalent in London where you can really slow down, and think.