Recently the Guardian reported on the idea of introducing architectural education at schools. This is part of a review of cultural education, with the British culture minister Ed Vaizey apparently stressing “the point that all young people should have opportunities to take part in performance and visual arts and learn about Britain’s cultural, architectural and film heritage.”

Architectural education has had a presence in British schools for over 10 years now, largely due to Open-City who observe that: “Architecture and the built environment is something that has an impact on all our daily lives but it is the one thing we generally don’t learn about.” A key idea appears to be casting students as “Architectives” who look for clues about buildings on site visits, and learn about design.  The programmes are outlined at “Architecture in Schools: Primary” and “Secondary,” and include eco-design, site-visits, model-making, and working on competition entries, supported by an annual awards programme.  It all sounds great, and a potential model for us in NZ to take note of.