The Cultural Architecture of Schools

Abstract

The literature in the area of educational facilities design and the built environment for schools is both vast and fragmented. Broadly speaking, the literature can be grouped into three types, with the first type using the notion of the classroom as a “Third Teacher” constituting physical space as an active agent in the learning process. This type argues the building is a silent teaching partner and the purpose of good design is to remove hindrances to its voice and influence. The second type focuses on educational facilities planning and approaches design in a more pragmatic manner. The emphasis is upon isolating specific design elements that are common to all school structures (for example, lighting and passageways), quantifying the impact of these elements upon some aspect of schooling (for example, student levels of achievement), with the aim of making design responses to standard elements more predictable and streamlined. The third type of literature discusses the educational contexts and agendas that have been observed as having, or are predicted to have, a significant impact on what can be achieved in the overall building project, as well as being the reason for the project in the first place. Educational leadership and administration literature also reflects an increasing interest in understanding and cultivating rich learning environments.