From the Daily Courier (03/07/03):

Designer offers three distinct plans for Prescott College ‘gathering place’

PRESCOTT – More than 100 people turned out for a meeting Wednesday to see what kind of new building Prescott College is planning to build.

Philip Weddle, the Tempe-based architect who is leading the design efforts for the Crossroads Center, presented three different schemes of the proposed building to the audience, and he outlined the pros and cons of each plan. Following his multi-media presentation, Weddle fielded questions and offered his own opinion on which plan he favors the most.

Read more... (pdf)

Dana Oswald has been appointed as the experiential education coordinator for the Prescott College Crossroads Center, a $3M project that will house classrooms, meeting rooms, an information commons (a redefined concept of a library that incorporates academics, technology and social space), a student café, technology/multimedia services and lodging.

Oswald has been a faculty member in the Environmental Studies program for 15 years and focuses primarily in the areas of anthropology, human ecology and ecological design. The position was created to identify and take advantage of the learning opportunities associated with the Crossroads Project.

As the new experiential education coordinator, Oswald will identify, guide and coordinate experiential learning opportunities associated with the design and construction of the Center, bridging the gap between the administrative function of building the Center and the academic function. This might include workshops, independent studies, integration with College courses and other learning opportunities.

“I think we should always be looking for the teaching/learning opportunities in everything that the College does,” Oswald said. “However, this requires forethought and energy, so it helps when a particular person takes responsibility for a project or an area.”

Oswald has been teaching ecological design courses for many years and often works with students through independent studies. “This just seemed like an extension of what I already do. It also provides me with an opportunity to increase my knowledge about designing and constructing green buildings,” she said.
-MORE-
Coordinator/2

“ Dana has a wealth of knowledge in the area of ecological design and has a strong working knowledge of the Crossroads project, having been with the effort from its inception,” said Chief Operating Officer Steven Corey.

According to Oswald, students can become involved formally in the Crossroads Center project at least two ways. They can design a course around their work on the Crossroads Center, or they can incorporate some aspect of study about the Center into a course they are already taking.

“I also think that community involvement is incredibly valuable for students,” Oswald noted. “By participating in this community process they learn about the steps a community takes to reach decisions and about how they can participate in those steps. Therefore, I am encouraging students to become active in the process.”

Currently, Oswald’s ecological design class is shadowing the design process, meeting with the Weddle Gilmore design team and paralleling the design process with the same information the design team is using to create their designs. Through this process the students will learn all the steps in moving from concept to finished design.

Once construction of the Crossroads Center begins, there will be a series of weekend workshops spaced throughout the construction phase.

• "The Program"
  The Program document is a narrative description of the project that will be used as the basis for the conceptual designs.
  
  
• Prescott College Selects Architects for $3 Million Project
  01/24/2003
  
  
• Where to From Here?
  03/26/2002
  
  
• Summary Report
  04/01/2002
  
  
• About the Architect
  WEDDLEGILMORE
  

• Project Schedule