A Redesigned Space Gives Architecture Class a Clearer Picture

The Space Received Upgraded Flooring and Lighting, Plus New Electrical Outlets

For the returning Architecture students — back for their second year at the Center for Career Services — the school year began with a positive first impression.

“The changes were very noticeable,” said Alex Vaccaro, a senior from Hartsdale. “Right away, it looked like a completely different room.”

Just prior to the start of the 2024-25 school year, the Architecture classroom on the CTE campus received a top-to-bottom transformation. Instructor Jonathan Arras, who has been involved in design his whole professional career, was deeply invested in the project, not only conceiving of the changes but designing them. Arras created renderings last school year that came to life during the construction, which mostly occurred in August.

The program received new computers two years ago, then new furniture last year. However, the work this summer was more extensive, resulting in new flooring, upgraded electrical outlets, LED lighting and new paint.

“This room is much more open now,” Arras said. “When colleagues walk in, they are like, ‘Wow, this is a totally new space.’”

  Arras believed the most important and necessary change was a rearrangement of the furniture, a move made possible by power poles that were installed in the center of the room. The new electrical outlets allow for computers to be staged throughout the room and for all desks to face forward toward a monitor in front of the room.

Previously, there had only been one location for power in the center of the room. Because of that, several desks were positioned along the walls and faced multiple directions.

“I really like it a lot,” New Rochelle senior Alyssa Hyman said of the reconfigured space. “We’re now all facing the same direction so you have a good visual of the entire classroom. You’re not distracted looking at anything else.”

Arras spent last school year taking mental notes about what changes might benefit his students. He’s already seen a positive impact throughout the first month of the school year.

“I’m getting better engagement from the students, both them with me and them with each other,” Arras said. “A student can more easily ask someone else a question. We also can move around and gather at the group table in the back of the room. If I want to meet with a group of first-year students at the group table, we can have a discussion without disturbing the other students.”