WELCOME
On behalf of the La Unified
School District, the Design Advisory Council, the USC School
of Architecture, and the J. Paul Getty Trust, we are honored
to welcome your participation in Lessons Learned, a series
of events related to the design of the 85 new schools that
are part of the current $2 billion building program
In order to learn from
this process for the future, the Design Advisory Council working
with USC has organized two symposia. The first was held in
November and sought to identify best practices, specifically
how LAUSD and the architects they contract could work together
more effectively. A third symposium is being planned for the
early Fall 2002 and will concentrate on contemporary changes
in educational philosophies and their relationship to facilities.
It will also look at the role of technology in K-12 education.
This third Symposium will be perhaps the most important of
all in that it has the potential to lay the foundation for
decisions concerning the next 200 schools in LA Unified.
The opening reception
for Lessons Learned is taking place at the Getty Center on
the 28th of February at 7:30 p.m. in the Museum Entrance Hall
and will feature a display of representative schools selected
by the Design Advisory Council (DAC). This reception will
also serve as a presentation to the leaders of Los Angeles
and members of the press of the new schools currently being
designed for LAUSD
The Lessons Learned symposium
to be held on March 1, 2002 will review the new schools in
both presentations and break-out sessions. The symposium will
start at 8:00 in the Museum Lecture Hall Lobby. The DAC has
reviewed the designs submitted for over 60 schools and has
developed a list of sixteen topical areas to be covered in
the symposium breakout discussion groups. Members of the DAC
will lead the discussions, which will be video-taped, transcribed,
edited, and published. A series of "white papers"
will be distributed to all the participating architects, to
state educational agencies and decision makers, as well as
to any school district that requests them. The J. Paul Getty
Trust has been gracious to host Lessons Learned at their world-class
facility. USC will provide the support for content, transcription,
and publication.
At the conclusion of the
day on March 1, a reception will be held for LAUSD project
managers, board members, and superintendents. This will give
a chance for LAUSD employees to see the display of representative
projects and to meet and speak with the architects and project
managers. This gathering will be held in the Getty Research
Institute Lecture Hall.
All of us realize that
thousands of man-hours that have been spent studying, researching,
designing, and documenting creative solutions to a myriad
of building issues. It is important that the successes related
to this work be recognized. All of us associated with the
design of these schools are excited by the possibility of
learning from this work to better prepare the district for
the next series of schools.
The DAC and LAUSD would
like to thank you for your contribution to the education of
our children and to the architecture of Los Angeles. We look
forward to sharing your work with our community.
Sincerely,
Kathi Littman
Deputy Chief Executive
School Building Planning |
Robert H. Timme,
FAIA
Della & Harry MacDonald Dean
USC School of Architecture, and
LAUSD Chairman, LAUSD DAC |
