The Third Teacher

This is a really interesting site recommended by Liz in my class - http://www.thethirdteacher.com/home/home-third-teacher
It's a collaborative project between Bruce Mao Design, VS America and OWP/P Cannon Design. The project is base on the Reggio Emilia Approach - an educational philosophy focused on preschool and primary education. It was started by Loris Malaguzzi and the parents of the villages around Reggio Emilia in Italy after World War II. The destruction from the war, parents believed, necessitated a new, quick approach to learning. It puts the natural development of children as well as the close relationships that they share with their environment at the center of its philosophy, and has the following guiding principles:
Children must have some control over the direction of their learning;
Children must be able to learn through experiences of touching, moving, listening, seeing, and hearing;
Children have a relationship with other children and with material items in the world that children must be allowed to explore and
Children must have endless ways and opportunities to express themselves.

The Third Teacher Project is focused on the role of the environment, and deals with design (though I haven't read it in its entirety, though Liz showed her book to me and I'm intrigued).