New School Architecture
The American Institute of Architects San Francisco chapter has a fascinating exhibition in their gallery right now that asks how school design can help develop our citizens of tomorrow.
The exhibition, titled The State of Affairs: A New Architecture for a New Education, is based on a show presented in Zurich in 2004 that culled prime examples (largely from Austria, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia) of how architects can provide the best—which also means most flexible and adaptive—environment for learning.
At the AIA SF gallery opening, a representative from the school board in Zurich explained that "the values we communicate with our youngsters today are important because those children are the generation of tomorrow." The works on display at the exhibition, 31 in total, highlight those values. The Maeder "Eco School" in Austria by Baumschlager and Eberle Architects stresses the need to be sustainable and is powered by biomass. The Volta School in Basel by Miller and Maranta Architects has multi-purpose space for before and after school programs and emphasizes the importance of community.
It's not only the schools themselves that are different in Europe, but also the way students are housed. On a trip to Copenhagen last year we visited Orestad, a community that's been developed as one of a number of new towns along Copenhagen's recently completed subway extension. Here we saw the Tietgenkollegiet student residence for students at the IT University of Copenhagen.
The six-story building holds 360 apartments, is oriented in a way to promote resident interaction, and also comprises a computer area, assembly hall, laundry facilities, and music rooms. Imagine living in a place like this during college. It’s hard to imagine living somewhere this beautiful--even after college!
Obama promises that we'll have the world's highest high school graduation rate by 2020 but what do we need to do to reach that goal? We want to hear how you think schools and residences should be designed. Start the conversation below in our comments section.
To view the exhibit, visit the AIA SF at 130 Sutter Street, Suite 600, San Francisco. The gallery is free and open Monday-Friday from 9am-5pm. For more information, call 415-362-7397 or visit aiasf.org.
Tietgenkollegiet image courtesy of YaHeEstado
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Aesthetics, at the end of the day, should have very little to do with education. While It is important to provide an environment where children can learn comfortably and safely, it is a wasted effort to include "pretty" design features without first attacking the primary reasons that schools are not successful. In a country where so many both intelligent and famous people have been educated by the public education system, I find it concerning that talk so often turns to frills when considering new construction projects. Frills Abraham Lincoln and so many others have prospered without. ONLY if the communities in which the schools are built become involved can a school be truly successful. Education is a combined effort of the student, the instructor, the administration, and the community(including parents). While having a state of the art facility encourages pride in the institution, it does nothing to address the true underlying imperfections in our education system. If education is to change, I believe that change will start in the residential homes of America, with the parents. Only by encouraging learning and the thirst for knowledge and academic success-on all levels-will we ever truly confront this issue.
Some of the school buildings I've seen from the 60's and 70's were novel designs that never worked. Few or strange windows, confusing layouts, or faddish open-plan layouts which made the buildings too noisy. Whether it's school architecture or curriculum development, teachers and students need to be consulted first before any development moves forward. One 1972 high school here in Washington, DC was state of the art. It fell apart and was recently demolished. It was criticized for looking like a prison from the outside, and the students complained of trouble navigating the nine story building when the escalators were broken. Who puts escalators in a school? I've heard excitement about the planned replacement building, LEED certified, etc., but I'm skeptical. How about an attractive but simple building that will be easy to maintain? In struggling urban districts in particular, keep it simple. Kids might be excited about a school with bells and whistles, but ten years later when nothing works and there's no budget to maintain the building, they'll feel defeated and teachers will be frustrated.
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