Engaging students in their built environment

The London Grid for Learning Architecture films are a unique visual resource for teachers and students. Based on three exemplar buildings in London, the films open up the subject of architecture through the visual exploration of a building and its immediate surroundings.

Each film is divided into sections, which correlate with different parts of the building and focus on aspects such as how lighting is used, how the building has been designed to meet the needs of the users, and the use of sustainable construction materials.

London Grid for Leaning and Open-City want teachers and learners to make the very best of this visual resource and so we are illustrating the films with an innovative set of curriculum linked activities.

The activities cover architectural themes such as structure, scale, navigation, space, function and lighting and have been written with class based learning in mind. Each activity illustrates the relevant Key Stage 3 curriculum link and three film clips that can be used in conjunction with the activity. These film clips can be used to help put learning in to context or to provide a more in depth example of architecture from which to begin a whole class exploration.