Going from 12 crayons to 90+

In the first few weeks of elementary school most kids are using just a basic 12 or 24 pack of crayons. But after the prices of school supplies has gone down someone buys the huge, 64, 90 -somethings or an even bigger pack of crayons. Then they bring it to school and all the other kids just sit there and look. They ask to borrow a blue or a red, but in this set there are 12 shades of red, so they slowly learn to ask for "that darker red" (or Brick red) or the Fire Truck red. They begin to expand their knowledge of what colors they can use, and what works (like the just plain gray works better then the funky metallic gray). This is their exploration.

We Stared the Run to the End with World Fairs. It was this Hug coming together of cultures, Ideas, designs, Architecture, language, life styles and so much more. Mainly they were, Commercial, all the selling and sharing people did, Collaborative; they united people, gave everyone an international scope and everyone wanted to have the Worlds fair in their town. Then Celebratory; at a worlds fair you could get a good idea of what world events were going on and would give the world Hope for the feature but still were not left by the ever present fear of the feature. Around this time new materials were becoming more accessible, steal, iron and glass to name a few.

Then we moved onto the 20th century, Arts + Crafts, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and then Bauhaus.

Here is the breakdown (quick facts):

Arts and Crafts:

Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Robie House, Falling Water, lots of wood and he uses square spaces over and over again. 

Art Nouveau:

The time of Gaudi's designs in Spain ( Casa Batllo, Casa Mila and la sagrada familia)

The metro stops in Paris

Steiner House 

Art Deco: 

The Chrysler building

Geometric patterns, moving upwards, movies, cars

 Bauhaus:

The design school that changed how design was taught. 

year 1: rethink- forget all the boundaries that we have been taught and just build, then introduce elements of design

2-3 Years: introduce elements of design. 

Then we talked about what is good design for all and how these movements were trying to discover what that was.

Before the World Fairs, the mixing pot in New York City and Development of a very international world each country had their own style each part of some countries were like this as well. But Then as communication, photos, movies, and other forms of sharing ideas got better the world of design became a huge mix of ideas and materials from all over the world.  

Then as we came to the end of this year we looked at how there are more then just one modernism. The world is a big place with so many influences, new demands, new technology, and we are still working with "modernism". 

This can all come back to the crayons. As this was the explorations unit, when the kid gets the new crayons its the Worlds Fair, all the new options all in one place. Then its like all the movements. The kid takes a liking to the pinks for a week or the glow in the dark or sparkly crayons, its the experimentation of design. Then they will settle in to a good combination of crayons. 

Picture 1: http://auarthistory.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/chicago-worlds-fair3.jpg

Picture 2: http://bryndakirk.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/la-sagrada-familia-1.jpg?w=400