News & Events
City Tech Students Help Prospect Heights School Design a New Library
Presenting their designs for a new library at PS 9/MS 571 were City Tech students, left to right, Diego Bartolo, Carlos Honorio, Jr., Clemente Martinez-O’Neill, Natalia Vela, Randy Heeralall, Chen Wei Pua, Richar Lopez, Adia Henton, Jevon Duff and Boris Segovia.
Visionary designs for a new children’s library at Public School 9/Middle School 571 in Prospect Heights were presented there by New York City College of Technology (City Tech) students to a lively, receptive crowd of parents, faculty, consultants and city governmental officials last week (January 28).
“The school is like many public institutions fighting for space and funding for much-needed initiatives,” explains Architectural Technology Professor Illya Azaroff, AIA, who coordinated the students’ effort as part of his Design V course. “The current library is out of date and needs a complete renovation and asbestos abatement, for which the city budgeted $150,000, not enough to do the work and cover design costs.”
“I was simply blown away with the work that you and your students have done and will continue to do for our children,” said Sandra D'Avilar, principal at PS 9. “Our pupils are determined to celebrate you and your students with a reception later this spring, and we look forward to the grand opening of our new library, which will be in September 2009.”
The 14 City Tech architectural technology students in Professor Azaroff’s course were divided into seven design teams to tackle the project, working with the various stakeholders to come up with potential design solutions. The students had just three weeks to conceptualize and develop the schemes for the presentation, which featured multimedia projections, animations and a lengthy question-and-answer session. Participating in the onsite presentation were 10 City Tech students representing six of the seven design teams.
According to Azaroff, three New York City Department of Education officials who attended the event “commented positively on all the designs and were heard saying, ‘We hope you’ll design libraries for other schools in the system,’ opening the door for potential future projects for our talented City Tech students.”
For almost 40 years, professors in City Tech’s architectural technology department have sought to use New York City as the laboratory for teaching and developing student skills and core competencies.
“Professor Azaroff skillfully coupled the need for technical assistance for PS 9/MS 571 with the existing learning objectives for fifth semester design utilizing a ‘service learning’ teaching method that benefits the students, college and community,” says Robert Zagaroli, chairperson of the department, which has 900 students pursuing degrees, making it the largest public college program of its kind in New York State. It is also the fastest growing program at the College, having doubled in size in four years.
Currently, a steering committee at PS 9/MS 571 is reviewing the projects and then will consult with one or more of the student teams as the project moves forward. In addition, a twitter site will display the student work for public review and comment.
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