Alfie third and fourth day

On my third day of work experience me and doug started the morning of by making a data base of all the schools in Brent. This is so the Building exploratory could tell them about the workshops they do throughout many schools in London. This was not a very challenging task but it wasn't the most exciting job to complete and I was happy to be able to go outside and get some fresh air for lunch.
The second part to the day consisted of me and Doug sorting out the hundreds of maps that the Building exploratory keep in there office. This job also took up allot of time but it was very interesting seeing all of the old maps and comparing London from now to when it was allot older.

The first part of the fourth day consisted of me and Doug helping out the Senior Bees. These are a group of older people who travel around London with one of the BE staff looking into architecture and the history of it. We got to meet all of them and they where happy to let us sit with them and talk about different types of towers all around the world. This was an interesting experience and i got to look into some of the things the senior bees do when they meet together. Overall it was a good two days and it was a brilliant way to finish of the week.

Dougs First Day

My first impressions of The Building Exploratory office space was was a light open plan area, I met most of the staff straight away and they were very welcoming towards me and Alfie. We were then taken on a short tour of the place and I was very impressed by all the displays around the room, which included a small model of a nearby tower block.

Then Janet gave us a quick introduction as to what goes on here and some of the workshops they have to offer. After this, we went onto the computers to get some first hand research done.

This brought us up to lunchtime, when we got back it was straight of to Orchard Primary School to assist in the "Building Bridges" workshop that was taking place. We met with Lizzie who was teaching the workshop, she wanted us to help out the kids and take photos for The Building Exploratory website. On this experience I learnt that to be a successful primary school teacher you need to be fun, make the kids laugh and be engaged in the task at hand.

After that it was a short walk home for me.

Alfie second day.

On the second day of work experience i went into the same school but to work with year threes this time. The workshop was called "printing planets" and the idea of it was to not only teach the year threes about our solar system but to let them have fun with the creative side of it as we made painted planets. In this workshop i learned how challenging it can be supervising years threes with paint and rollers but i also learned how you make something like that fun and interesting for people as young as the age of seven.

Alfie first day

My first interpretation of the working space as I walked in was that it was very open and light. I like this about most places and this gave me a good feeling about what I was going to do over the next two weeks. I was introduced to all the friendly staff and I was then shown around the office and told what sort of things they do around here in the specifics.

We where told what each member of staff does here and we where asked what sort of things we are interested in. We then had a quick look on the website and by then it was lunch.

The second half of the day consisted of travelling to a primary school and observing a bridge-making workshop. This gave me an insight into how the building exploratory interests children in what they do and how they make it fun for most ages. After helping out with some of the groups for an hour or so it was the end of the day and after finishing the bridges I head home.

Week 5: The National Curriculum and Masking Tape Labels

Ella:

This was my final week at the Building Exploratory and I was determined to finish the library. The last thing to do was to catalogue the remaining books- by selecting a dewy number and labeling them with little bits of masking tape. A simple task you might think, but remembering six digit decimal numbers from the time you look at it on the shelf, to the time you come to write it down on a label, is not as easy as you might think.


My next task was to research the national curriculum to support an advertising campaign promoting the Building Exploratory's childrens workshops in schools. The idea was to tell the teachers how the workshops related to their syllabus and explian how they would expand the children's learning in the classroom. It was interesting for me to see how little the syllabus had changed from when I was small. I still remember making countless Tudor houses from cereal boxes and sugar paper portcullis castles.


From my Experience at the Building Exploratory I will take:

1. The People: All highly educated laid- back Londoners who appear to enjoy a completely different way of life to me.
2. The Enthusiasm: Who knew I could become so inspired by maps, historical photographs and the national curriculum?
3. The Location: To outsiders Hackney may not sound like a cool new up-and-coming part of London - I learnt not to go on other people's misconceptions.
4. The Independence: Yes  the 1 hour 45 minute journey was laborious, (it doesn't help when a rather heavy guy takes up half of your seat on the coach), but I travelled through historical parts of London on my own - a big step for someone like me and one which has given me a giant boost in confidence.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the Building Exploratory team for all their help and kindness in giving me this fantastic insight into working life.

Week 4: Researching Hackney

Ella:

On top of sorting the library this week I was given the opportunity to do some research into the history of the built environment in Hackney. 

I was contributing to a new project run by the Building Exploratory in collaboration with Hackney Museum and Hackney Council, working with local primary school students. The purpose of which is to promote the regeneration of Dalston Square by involving and educating the local community with the intention of creating a time capsule.

My job was to use the Building Exploratory’s resources including photographs, the library, historical maps, the bomb damage database and Google maps, to support the Building Exploratory’s role in the project. I’ll admit, I am not the best person to ask about maps (as demonstrated in week 2!), I can barely navigate my hometown; my sense of direction is poor! I soon discovered, however, that maps are not instructions for getting lost; they are in fact objects of historical fascination! 


Using all these resources I managed to find roads around Dalston Square which had been damaged by bombs during the war, Google maps was especially helpful in discovering how the area had regenerated itself since then. It was interesting to see that on some roads one side was Victorian architecture whilst the other was 1950’s housing. It was fascinating to realise which roads had been there for centuries, which buildings had survived bomb damage and the areas where most people had died or suffered poverty and comparing this to the modern day Hackney. I had successfully formed an overview of the history of Dalton’s built environment. This in itself was fascinating; the architecture in my own town now intrigues me even more!

Week 3: The Library and Looking Smug

Ella:

Today I travelled with new oyster card. Impressed by my newfound compatibility with city life, I struggled to mask my delight when I practically glided on to the bus!

The main task ahead of me today was ordering The Building Exploratory library. As the daughter of a librarian I was unphased by the Dewy decimal system, my real problem was the number of books! Hundreds of non-fiction texts on architecture, building history, Hackney, Greater London, the natural environment, business methods, craft books, planning advice, building techniques, map books, exhibition pamphlets and a number of DVD’s awaited me, all covered in a thick layer of dust. I spent all of 2 ½ hours ordering, sorting stacking (and sneezing!) before heading back to Kent.