Protections that Nourish and Safeguard

After School Shootings, a Push for Openness Over Barricades by Lisa Prevost
New York Times, October 22, 2109 

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This article pushes back against barricades, both concrete and psychological. It is a departure from intuitive desires to close-in and close-off after unspeakable disaster. Instead, it calls for openness, not only in the design of buildings and space, but also in communities that must be strengthened to provide what children need most. The article posits a push for design features in schools that increase safety while avoiding a barricaded experience for students. Here, the approach is to maintain visual access and connection with a community, including intelligent design, alongside advocating for gun control and new lockdown technology. The suggestions are specific and poignant. The architects of the new Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, for example, speak of their rain garden spanning the entire frontage of their school. It requires that visitors cross a bridge to enter. Safe school design bills currently before the Senate and Congress are referenced, but the emphasis is on the vision to see beyond barricaded buildings to gun and other controls, including smart design decisions that load buildings with protections that both nourish and safeguard.