What were the most powerful educational experiences you had as a child? Chances are those experiences happened outside of the classroom, or they involved some kind of hands-on creative engagement such as touching, building, or making.

Many of the great elementary school teachers understand the power of hands-on project-based learning. To this end, they often bring architecture-based projects into their classrooms to create opportunities for children to use their intellectual, visual, and kinesthetic sensibilities in a new way. Inspired by exhibits and materials available in the San Francisco Bay Area through the Lawrence Hall of Science, Bay Area discovery Museum or the Exploratorium, teachers involve children in architectural projects with astounding success.

Many other teachers have the good fortune to work with architects in programs such as the AIA Architects-in-Schools Program. In programs such as this, architects go into the classrooms to work with children in multi-week residencies. Through a series of exercises, projects and field trips, architects expose children to issues in the built, natural, and cultural environments. The goal is to use architecture to augment and amplify the academic and social goals. Together the architects and students have created innovative design proposals for homes, schools, neighborhoods, and communities. In these programs, children have grappled with local urban development issues and have come up imaginative proposals for the Bay Bridge, the Presidio, Treasure Island, Union Square, and Crissy Field. And, they have tackled with social issues such as homelessness and environmental sustainability as they created complex and thoughtful design-based proposals.

Architects working with children and youth often tell me they are "hooked" on doing architectural projects with children. They say it helps them remember why they love architecture. With children they are able to freely engage in the creative process without the constraints of professional practice. They can work with children on projects which are spatial and tactile, instead of toiling for long hours in front of a computer. And, they can explore ideals about the built environment and community while sharing the vibrancy and vitality of young people's imagination. They are participating in an extremely powerful learning experience with the children.

Aware of the power of this educational experience, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the American Architectural Foundation have joined forces to study how the design studio process informs the way children learn in the nation's schools.

Following on the heels of the Boyer Report, a soon to be released report, Building Connections, will outline the ways in which the architectural design process can be more thoroughly integrated into the K-12 educational curriculum. According to Lee Mitgang, the perspective is that the methods found in the best design studios - critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork, and integrative learning - can help students draw more sophisticated connections between subjects such as math, science, and the arts.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, architects and educators are collaborating to create a context for meaningful learning and advocacy through architecture. Under the leadership of the Architectural Foundation of San Francisco and the Architecture Youth Collaborative, a group of more than 30 organizations, launched in the spring of 1999, "Building Up Our Community: SF Youth Architects Collaborate", a series of events and exhibitions by Bay Area children and youth.

Organizations such as the Architectural Youth Program, AIA Architects-in-Schools Program, Architectural Mentors in Public Education, and others will involve youth in projects using architectural, urban design, and planning resources and techniques to develop a critique of their local environment. Students will conduct research, collect information about architecture in their community, and grapple with ecological, economic, and social issues associated with the shape and form of their own neighborhoods and schools. They will focus on public spaces such as schools, streets, parks, and civic plazas.

Working with architects and related professionals, the children and teens will then translate their critique into design proposals for projects they think will make a difference in their own school or neighborhood.

As sources of inspiration, the students will view the video, Becoming Good Neighbors - Enriching America's Communities by Design, and they will visit local community-based design projects such as the Asian Neighborhood Design, Mission Community Housing Corporation, and the San Francisco State University Urban Institute. Adults will encourage youth to be particularly sensitive to the issues of intergenerational access, and social environmental sustainability.

Then children and youth will develop proposals and construct models of their schemes for transforming the public spaces they occupy. Their projects may include: a bus shelter, a campus snack bar, stage sets, recreational facilities, and/or a safe place for seniors and children to congregate. Emphasis will be on projects that strengthen the bonds between various members of the communities: children, teens, elderly, disabled, boys, girls, and people of different cultures. When the design proposals are complete, some groups may develop a financing plan, or may even enlist volunteers to build all or part of their projects as permanent enhancements in the community.

In May 1999, the Architecture Youth Collaborative sponsored a series of events, exhibitions, and forums to showcase the children's work. The exhibitions will be at different sites throughout the city such as storefronts, schools, and community centers. The exhibits sites may also feature interactive components which can be added to by viewers. There will also be other opportunities for young designers to interact with each other and the general public.

They may also participate in debates about civic architecture and public space with the professional and neighborhood communities. Events such as all-youth forums will provide the young designers with the opportunity to share their work with each other.

The Building Up Our Community project's most enduring legacy will be to strengthen Architecture Youth Collaborative as a model for cooperation to be emulated by all the various architecture and design-based organizations for youth in large cities throughout the country.

The collaboration of organizations will help cross-pollinate ideas and expand opportunities for young people as well as encourage civic participation and advocacy for quality environments.

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Shirl Buss is a designer, educator, and researcher. You may contact her at shirlbuss[at]aol.com.