BSLA
/ TOOLBOX
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plumb bobs and plant hardiness index cards. We
packed these up in specially fabricated boxes, the
design of which was based on a stadia box in our
collection. We developed a material culture lesson
plan to guide student analysis of the tools. We
wanted students to really get into those tools by
exercising their powers of observation and thought:
What can this be? Why do I think this? How can
I substantiate my claims? We also wanted them to
arrive at the site excited about presenting their ideas
and invested in learning if their hypotheses were
correct. By all accounts, “Tools of the Trade” is doing
precisely what we had hoped.
Historic Design Office Experience:
We circle around a seasoned drafting table in the
Upper Drafting Room. The table is populated with
all kinds of tools—a T-square, pencil with extender,
drafting brush, whale weights and a pencil pointer
to name a few. Students are eager to share their
theories and find out if they are right about what the
tool does and how it fits into the design process.
The student seems to have a thought but
doesn’t want to reply. I wait. He mumbles,
“Well—it makes the pencil longer—I don’t
know…” This is all he needed to say—the
conversation takes off.
“Why is pencil length important? … How
does pencil length affect the character of
the marks you make? …” I pick up a copy
of a plan for Scarboro Pond and we study
the lines—we can see the differences in
line weight, simple lines and arcs, scratchy
markings. For the pencil and extender
theorist, the tools have taken on new
meaning and import. He is the proud
“owner” of a tool that set the stage for
getting ideas onto paper. A quiet voice pipes
up “That is SO cool.” Everyone wants a
pencil and extender.
I start the conversation with the pencil with attached
extender. I do this because everyone thinks the pencil
is such a simple tool and they often overlook the
ABOVE RIGHT
Students at
Fairsted
6
We move on to the pencil pointer, “So—
who here had this guy?” I say pointing to
the pencil pointer. A gal raises her hand
and suggests it is a sander—something to
smooth out wood that the designers might
have been working on—like benches for a
extender. Time has taught me that young learners
stop thinking once they have arrived at an answer.
I do everything I can in this program to break that
cycle. A boy steps up and announces that the pencil
is his tool. He shrugs, “It’s a pencil.” I take a long
look at that pencil—deliberately moving my gaze up
and down the full length of the pencil. “Is that all? Is
there anything else you can say about the pencil?”
The theorist shrugs, “I don’t know—it has something
metal on the end of it.” We are getting somewh W&R