Let’s be Architects!: Designing for Community
About the Lesson
Students will learn about architects John M. Carrère and Thomas Hastings and their work designing Henry Flagler’s Hotel Alcazar in St. Augustine. Students will examine how architects consider a building’s purpose, location, users, materials, appearance, and surroundings when creating a design.
Students will then become “community architects.” Working individually or in small teams, they will identify a need in their own community and design a building that helps solve that problem. They will create an architectural drawing or model and explain how their design addresses the community’s need.
Two versions of the lesson plan are available.
Grade Level: 4th – 5th
Grade Level: 9th – 12th
Unit/Subject: Visual Arts | Florida History | Social Studies
Henry Flagler and his Era
Category: Education,Lesson Plans
Construction of the Hotel Alcazar, c. 1888
Albumen print
Lightner Learning: Discover Florida Through Art, Architecture, and History
Explore Florida’s cultural and historical identity with Lightner Learning, a free digital resource hub from the Lightner Museum featuring curriculum-aligned lesson plans and hands-on activities for educators.
Located in the heart of historic St. Augustine, the Lightner Museum offers a unique setting for students to explore the stories that shaped Florida. Housed in the iconic former Hotel Alcazar, built by Henry Flagler in 1888, the museum provides a window into the transformative era when Flagler’s hotels, railroads, and civic investments helped establish St. Augustine as a premier destination and shaped the development of modern Florida.
