Winter at Colgate University has a way of changing how students move through campus. As students adjust to wind, snow and single-digit temperatures, social spaces naturally shift indoors. In these conditions, finding “third spaces” — places outside of classrooms and residence halls where students can connect — becomes more difficult. Colgate’s chapter of Design for America (DFA) is working to create a solution that not only meets this seasonal challenge, but endures across all seasons at Colgate.
DFA has met the third space problem with a creative solution: transforming the rooftop of Dana Arts Center into a social space for students. As you walk by Dana today, you will notice the beginning stages of this project — newly installed geodesic domes and cozy lighting.
Design for America, associated with the Watson Foundation, is a network of college campuses where students use design thinking skills to have a local social impact. Design thinking is a problem solving methodology that is solution-based and user-centric. It encourages creative solutions to complex problems through emphasizing, observing and understanding user experiences to identify real issues.
Director of Creative Technologies, Engagement and Support Ahmad Khazee and Professor of Earth and Environmental Geosciences Karen Harpp advise Colgate’s DFA studio, a program born out of student interest sparked by their previous project-based course, Emerging Global Challenges, taught during the pandemic.
Harpp described the unique classroom environment centered around problem-solving.
“This whole design thinking approach is sort of wedded to loosening people up and realizing that you can say not just absurd things, but making mistakes is how you figure things out, and it’s okay to make mistakes,” Harpp said.
Harpp emphasized that underneath a crazy idea can be a brilliant solution. Harpp and Khazee prioritized this approach in DFA by allowing students to pitch and modify ideas in a collaborative environment.
Design thinking begins with immersion. Junior Everett Shinn, the president of Colgate’s DFA studio, explained this portion of the project.
“The very first thing you do in design thinking is various things related to immersion,” Shinn said. “It’s not just going out and talking to people, but it’s, of course, leveraging your own experiences and trusting that experience that you have as a student is emblematic, in a way, of something larger.”
In their research, one theme emerged repeatedly: student bands — a growing part of campus culture — lacked informal spaces to perform beyond Greek Letter Organization houses.
“Because of how we use design thinking, we turn Dana roof into not just a question of what would be fun, but what underlying cultural problems does Colgate face for the average student, and how do we overcome those?” Shinn said.
Khazee shared what Dana looked like prior to DFA’s involvement.
“It was just the concrete tiles you walked out, and honestly, for a long time you couldn’t use it because of the construction to the Glenn,” Khazee said.
Earlier this year, student bands held an outdoor concert on the Dana rooftop, eliciting a positive response from students. This gave DFA hope for Dana as a social space.
Now, there are geodesic domes on Dana’s roof that can be utilized by students, even in the winter months. While this space is still in its early stages, DFA views the installation as the beginning of a longer design process shaped by student feedback and experimentation. As the project develops, DFA hopes to host winter events on the rooftop, which students are encouraged to look out for.
President Brian W. Casey encouraged DFA to develop Dana’s roof as a functional venue, and has granted them funding for the next stage of their project. With his support, DFA plans to purchase modular pieces, allowing students to “build” the space they want. These pieces will allow DFA to experiment, study and create the best version of Dana through rearranging where the band plays, where the audience gathers and how the roof can be oriented for various events.
In a season where winter can make campus feel smaller and more isolating, the Dana rooftop offers a hopeful reimagining of how students can gather and connect at Colgate. As DFA continues to develop the rooftop social space, this group stands as an example of how creativity and collaboration can expand student life — even in the coldest months.
