These and many other recently completed installations offer design solutions that can be immediately applied throughout the nation. Indeed, Educational Environments No. 2 is arranged for frequent use. All projects are indexed for easy reference to aid professionals engaged in the planning and design of schools, colleges and other educational facilities to renew the American way of life in the 21 st century.

Henry Ford"s daring announcement in 1914 that he would set the minimum wage for employees at Ford Motor Company"s Highland Park, Michigan plant at $5 a day may not have single-handedly inaugurated middle class life in America. However, turning Ford employees into Ford customers had profound implications for American society: Workers could make a good living with just a high school education. This middle class reverie was rudely jolted in the late 1980s, of course, by fierce competition from foreign nations who empowered their well educated work forces with capital and technology, just as America had done. Today, higher education is critical to America"s survival.

Education"s importance has been brought home by various sobering recent developments. For example, overseas outsourcing of white-collar jobs now threatens American workers at the highest levels of education and skill. The 50th anniversary of the landmark court decision that declared segregated schools unlawful, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kans., finds many schools as racially unbalanced as ever, and black and Hispanic students still lagging behind white students academically even in fully integrated schools. And the consequences of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002, a keystone of Bush Administration policy, are still far from clear as states carry out the intent of the legislation.

Fortunately, American educators are working with communities, local organizations and civic leaders to give education a more meaningful impact on American life, and the designs of the newest schools, colleges, universities and similar facilities in Educational Environments No. 2 reflect this. Consider the Student Services Building for the University of California, Berkeley, which encourages students to interact by bringing together dining halls and student services once scattered across the campus. Or Matapeake Elementary School, in Stevensville, Maryland, which celebrates its unique ecological location on Kent Island in the Chesapeake Bay by serving as a living marine observatory for its students. Or the renovated and expanded Student Recreation Center at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, offering students an attractive and versatile environment to stay fit, enjoy group activity or simply work off excess energy.

These and many other recently completed installations offer design solutions that can be immediately applied throughout the nation. Indeed, Educational Environments No. 2 is arranged for frequent use. All projects are indexed for easy reference to aid professionals engaged in the planning and design of schools, colleges and other educational facilities to renew the American way of life in the 21 st century.

Introduction by Roger Yee

Andropogan Associates

Anshen & Allen Architects

ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge, Inc.

Ayers/Saint/Gross Architects & Planners

Bergmeyer Associates

Bialosky + Partners, Architects

BSA LifeStructures

Butt Hill Koser Rittlemann Associates

Cannon Design

Centerbrook

Chrismer

Drummey Rosane Anderson

Earl Swensson Architects

Elkus/Manffedi Architects

Goody, Clancy & Associates

Grimm & Parker Architects

HMC Architects

Mackey Mitchell

Mithun Partners

Sasaki Architects

Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott

Steven Ehrlich Architects

SWA Group

William Wilson Associated Architects Inc.

Testing, Testing

Index of Projects