Teacher's Choice for Activity Three
An Architectural Walk

Objectives

• to recognize and compare architectural features of actual houses
• to recognize common patterns or styles of housing

Description

As a class, walk around a block or two, asking students to take time to observe various types of windows, doors and entrances, rooflines, number of stories, placement of rooms (as much as you can tell from the outside), etc.

Buildings, like clothing, have style and fashion. And like clothing, many new houses are based on stock plans with a few variations, so a kind of common look gets perpetuated. Is there a common style in this neighborhood? How do new houses differ from older houses? Is there a common number of stories for houses or buildings? Are most or all of the houses for single families or are they multiple dwelling units? Are any buildings multi-use (home plus business)?

Halfway through the walk, have students discuss and compare what they have noticed. Back in the classroom, students can design a house for themselves, based on the features they observed and liked.

Students could then present their house drawings and talk about why they made the kind of choices they did. How is their dream house like or unlike the house they currently live in?

The Architectural Institute of BC has a video called "Two Houses for Two Brothers" which looks at the influence of personal preference (formal versus informal, for example) in housing. (Call Jim Taggert at 683-8588 for video details.)

• paper
• markers
• "Two Houses for Two Brothers" video