My name is James Cowan and I work at
ThenDesign Architecture as a project
designer.
What excites me about the projects at
TDA is the community involvement and
impact that the project
has at the end. And I mean,
throughout the course of the project,
we always try to involve community,
and understanding the vision that the
community has for the school building.
So that's a really exciting part to me.
It's good to be involved in those
visioning sessions and I think TDA does a
great job with that.
I think it's just important to bring
different experiences to the table.
Someone else might not think about the
space like you think about the space.
So whether they're, you know,
they're older or younger
or security might be
something that's very important to them
while connecting with nature may be very
important to someone else.
You want to make sure you're understanding
the space and what should happen
there from all ranges.
We bring those different,
different minds to the table,
you're able to develop
something as more inclusive.
So one of my favorite aspects of
the design process is making sure
that the exterior responds
to its surrounding.
Just making sure that it's
not an acontextual building
that you can't just take
this building and put it
anywhere, is important.
What's funny is I didn't know,
would be as passionate about
educational design until I got to TDA,
where they were involved in a
mentorship program called ACE.
And I started to learn a little more
about TDA from the people who were already
working here and I thought it was an
interesting place. So once I got to TDA,
I started to understand the impact
that's happening with the community.
So I'm like, that's something
I want to be a part of.
It's very exciting to see a school
opening kids running into the school, or,
you know, the groundbreaking and how
they excitement for something new,
impact someone's life and
that, that keeps me at TDA.
As far as understanding the impact
that architecture makes on people's
lives, I'm still
understanding that myself.
I think that the projects I've worked on,
seeing how occupants actually use
the space will provide some insight
to actually student centered
learning and not what we think.
So I think just, just as
buildings remain open,
we will see the evolution of the
spaces that's exciting as well.
I think that the impact is
going to be a positive one.
The evolution of the space
as technology changes will be
the telltale story.
