Learning from past experiences: School building design in the 1970s and today

Abstract

This paper is co-written by Ben Cleveland, an educator and Ken Woodman, an architect who were awarded APAI scholarships to undertake postgraduate study as part of the Smart Green Schools’ Australian Research Council Linkage Grant (2008–2011). At the midway point through the three-year research program, the authors reflect on the lessons which can be learnt from the open-plan movement of the 1970s. The paper introduces for readers key influences that resulted in changes to the shape and appearance of learning environments in the 1970s and compares and contrasts them with current thinking influencing both pedagogy and the design of learning spaces. The paper ends by listing three strategies to help prevent the failures of the open-plan classrooms of the 1970s being repeated.