Comprehensive building systems are the result of industry's search for markets, clients' desire for shorter hours and lower costs, and the growing complexity of building technology which requires the architect to depend on industry for research and development. Certain questions are raised by this trend. Will industry dominate architecture? Can…

Discussion of communities of practice in workplace learning is widespread. Here the authors seek to consider how we can make use of communities of practice theory in practical teaching in a formal undergraduate educational context. The concept of what the authors call the double shift is discussed; a shift from the workplace as community of…

Crisis planning includes making preparations for managing school buildings, grounds, occupants, and rescue and recovery personnel during and after a crisis. In "Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools" states: When a crisis…

This guide is intended to assist people with physical disabilities who are wheelchair users and their families in the construction of a barrier-free home. Introductory information notes the importance of specific planning for individual needs and full participation by the homeowner as well as the architect and contractor. Briefly addressed are:…

This issue of the quarterly newsletter "Rural Exchange" provides information and resources on accessible rural housing for the disabled. "Accessible Manufactured Housing Could Increase Rural Home Supply" (Nick Baker) suggests that incorporation of access features such as lever door handles and no-step entries into manufactured housing could help…

Two brief fact sheets for people with disabilities provide information on: (1) modifying a trailer to make it accessible for persons with mobility impairments, especially those in wheelchairs, and (2) accessibility considerations for home buyers or home owners with mobility impairments. The first fact sheet identifies inherent problems in…

This booklet offers suggestions to those involved in planning school construction efforts, in order to help them better understand the process of designing and building such facilities, particularly with regard to the role of the architect. The text defines what good architecture is and what it should accomplish. It considers the services needed,…

Features some of the largest and most dramatic of the air supported structures now in use. (MLF)

The new auditorium at the Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, is used for concerts, sports, meetings, and banquets. (Author/MLF)

To centralize food service within the entire Pittsburgh school district, a 90,000-square-foot food service preparation building contains cranes and monorails to move 500-pound capacity vats throughout the kitchen. (Author/MLF)

Years of planning and exhaustive studies have resulted in a striking example of vertical architecture at Louisiana State University's new Medical Center Educational Building. (Author)

Unique facilities integrate deaf students with hearing students. (Author)

Reports on research at Carnegie-Mellon University. (Author/MLF)

Glass curtain walls at George Gund Hall, housing Harvard University's Graduate School of Design, and windowless classrooms at a junior high school next to Chicago's O'Hare Airport help to solve special problems while creating aesthetically pleasing buildings. (Author/MLF)

The State legislature has made available $196 million to plan, construct, and equip vocational-technical schools. (Author)