Mar 26 2007
An inspirational new space for teaching and learning has been created in one of the top architectural libraries in the world - the British Architectural Library (BAL), at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in London.
Opening next month (3 April 2007), the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning through Design (CETLD) Bene Education Room creates new possibilities in the way the BAL’s collections of over four million photographs, drawings and books can be accessed. A unique educational resource, the room will adapt to provide a place for students to study together and lecturers to develop collections-based learning. It will also be available as a social space for newly qualified architects to discuss ideas, and as a location for film screenings for up to 30 people.
Designed primarily as an active teaching resource by the RIBA’s in-house architect, Martin Pascoe, the CETLD Bene Education Room is a flexible space which can transform from a seminar room to a studio with projection facilities; state-of-the-art resources include magnetic walls, interactive boards, video conferencing equipment, and computers with the latest CAD technology. Furnishings, generously provided by the innovative office and interiors expert Bene, also enliven the space.
The room has been primarily funded by the CETLD partnership between the RIBA with the University of Brighton, the Royal College of Art, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. CETLD receives its funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England and aims to enhance learning and teaching in design through research that brings together resources and expertise from Higher Education and collections-based partners.
Dr. Irena Murray, Sir Banister Fletcher Director of the RIBA British Architectural Library and Co-director of CETLD said:
“The new CETLD Bene Education Room might be small in size, but it will have a huge impact in stimulating collection-based learning, providing opportunities for shaping great ideas and creating a physical and virtual space for joined-up thinking. It will help students, architects and the public engage more directly with every type of material, from Renaissance treatises, nineteenth-century photographs of buildings and landscapes, to drawings and sound recordings of talks by Royal Gold Medallists. It will bring our collections to far flung classrooms through the new video-conferencing system and in turn benefit from group debate and critical thinking anywhere in the country. The space will also enable the collections to serve as an inspiration for creating new work in situ using the latest CAD technology. The opportunities are limitless.
“We are very grateful to our CETLD partners for their support. Working with such diverse institutions as the University of Brighton, the V&A and the RCA makes the benefits of creating, teaching and documenting good design much more explicit. The furniture provided by Bene exemplifies it.
“The opening of the education room marks yet another step in making the British Architectural Library a space to think creatively about our environment, its representation and its significance in time.”
The launch event on Tuesday 3 April will showcase many of the Library’s treasures. It will also be a chance to find out about many of the Library’s latest developments, including the How We Built Britain website, produced by the RIBA in partnership with the BBC; the premier of a film about CETLD; as well as demonstrations of the room’s facilities. Speeches will be given by Director for the CETLD, Anne Boddington; Chair of the RIBA Trust, Baroness Blackstone, and RIBA President, Jack Pringle. The event will also double as the launch of an architectural film club which will use the space for screenings.