Preparing Students for 21st Century Jobs

Students at work in the new Applied Science Center at Ventura College. Image © Gensler

The labor market continues to demand a more skilled workforce, and it is estimated that by 2020, 65 percent of job openings will require some level of post-secondary education. While demand is growing for middle-skill workers, the number of graduates at this level does not meet the need and has resulted in a growing “skills gap.” Community Colleges are positioned to fill this gap by providing employers with a better skilled workforce while restoring economic opportunity for more workers.

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Teaching by Design: The School of the Future

Hands-on learning inspires creativity. Image © Gensler

High school.

Those two simple words evoke familiar feelings of fondness or dread when we look back on what tended to be a tumultuous era in many of our lives. But today, one high school teacher is turning “high school” into a phrase that evokes the joy of learning, rather than the uncertainty of future paths, and represents the ingenuity with which the best teachers approach their profession.

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Speak Easy: Hospitality’s Influences on Education

Image © Gensler

Anyone who has ever stepped into a luxury spa or resort knows that hospitality is more than expensive products, materials and furnishings; it’s about the service and the curated experiences. People are seeking these meaningful, authentic experiences not just in hotels, but in the office, where they go shopping, and even at universities. This was the main theme of our second Speak Easy session on the impact of hospitality on how we live, work and play.

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Student Housing Trends: The Transformation of Co-Living in College

Blackstone Residence Hall, Image © Gensler

Several months ago we wrote about the new emergence of innovative co-living solutions: development projects where shared living spaces and amenities are attached to private sleeping areas to create a more communal (and affordable) urban housing experience. Many responded that it sounded like grown-ups living in a college dormitory, so it’s only natural that new names in the student housing market are taking this concept one step further.

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First Look: Chicago Plumbers Invest in Training Facility That Celebrates People, Process, Place

Rendering © Gensler. This view from Washington Street shows the facility’s perforated, copper-anodized façade, an allusion to copper pipes used for plumbing.

Gensler’s design for the Chicago Plumbers Local 130 Joint Apprenticeship Committee Training Facility celebrates people (journeymen and apprentice plumbers), place (the City of Chicago) and process (by teaching and demonstrating cutting-edge water conservation technologies). The facility is located in the heart of a collection of union halls and offices at the far end of the West loop known as “Teamster City.”

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