The Core Programs of the Salvadori Center

• The GLOBE Program - GLOBE [Guided Learning through Our Built Environment], the Center's flagship program, is a 3-year residency in selected New York City public schools, during which the partners integrate Salvadori's project-based pedagogy into their curricula through a comprehensive program of professional development, on-site mentoring by Salvadori educators and an independent evaluation. GLOBE is made possible, in part, by support from Con Edison, the Bernard F. and Alva B. Gimbel Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the New York Community Foundation.
• The LEAD Program – With LEAD [Learning through Engineering, Architecture and Design], the Center offers a wide range of shorter-term opportunities for public and private schools in the New York metropolitan area, from 4-session workshops to multi-week week units on bridges, skyscrapers, simple machines, dream houses, and many other topics.
• Professional Development for Educators - In three-day and week-long Institutes as well as targeted workshops, the Center provides in-depth mentoring to educators. Teachers explore the buildings, bridges, parks and historic districts of New York City. Throughout, they also learn about the Salvadori built-environment pedagogy and how to develop project-based lesson plans specific to their curriculum.
• The OST Program - The Center runs or participates in several OST [Out of School-Time] activites, including a National Science Foundation-funded partnership with the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) to use real-world projects to help 8-12 year olds enrolled in NYCHA after-school programs improve their understanding of science, engineering, mathematics, design and technology.
• The Annual Charrette - In June, as a culminating activity for Salvadori schools, 100 students participate in an all-day design challenge held in the Great Hall of City College of New York. Working alongside professional architects and engineers, students conceptualize, design, build and present models to their peers. The challenges vary year to year, ranging from creating futuristic societies to redesigning a city block to an eco-village of tree houses.

Our founder, Mario Salvadori, a world-renowned structural engineer, believed that the built environment held all the knowledge that a person needed to be an intelligent and active member of the community. What teachers need to make this knowledge available to their students are tools with which they can "unpack" the knowledge embedded in the built environment.

The Salvadori Center gives these tools to teachers and students through a pedagogy grounded in what it calls "project-based, hands-on/minds-on activities" that employ the principles of architecture, engineering, and the design process. Through this method, teachers and their students can unlock the math, science, art, and humanities embodied in the structures and systems that surround them.