[ATTW-L] Every School Has a House

[Dragga, Sam]

If you are looking for a semester project for your technical communication or information design class, consider a local replication of Every School Has a House (available at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MgXau7gJwwgeb8x3gxKBO3Iz8p_f-_zU).

This effort by Friends of Residential Treasures Los Angeles (www.fortla.org<http://www.fortla.org>) locates the nearest historic house to every public school in the city and displays

  *   name, logo, and address of the school
  *   photo, age, and address of the house
  *   note about the history and architectural style of the house
  *   note about the significance of the house
  *   a map of the pedestrian route from school to house, including walk time and distance
  *   five questions to consider while walking from school to house

1) What can you notice about your neighborhood — the buildings, the nature —as you walk to the house?

2) What elements can you notice that are special about the architecture?

3) What does the history of the house say about your neighborhood?

4) What do you imagine it was like in this neighborhood when the house was built?

5) How does this experience inspire you to get involved in the life of LA?


The mission here is to make students, educators, and parents aware of their proximity to salient examples of the city’s architectural and cultural heritage and thus to inspire civic pride, community engagement, and continuing exploration.

A replication of this project in your city would involve students in research, writing, editing, mapping, photography, and publishing. It would also offer the opportunity to interrogate the meaning of “historic” and the process of historic designation as well as to address pertinent questions, as necessary, regarding housing availability and affordability, racial discrimination in housing, the location of schools relative to the location of housing, pedestrian safety in neighborhoods, and the economic/social/ethical aims and consequences of historic preservation.

Sam

Sam Dragga
Professor Emeritus
Texas Tech University
sam.dragga at ttu.edu
1-806-543-6099

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