Designing for children is certainly not child's play. While adults lead the design process, the end-users are often children, as seen in kindergartens, schools, and parks. Architects have the responsibility to create built environments that provide children with opportunities to play, explore, and learn, even in today's digital age.
Czech-based architectural firm CHYBIK + KRISTOF has revealed its design for a new school in Mulbekh, North India, in collaboration with the Czech NGO Himalayan Patron and Spring Dales Public School. The project aims to provide quality education in the region while preserving local culture. This initiative is particularly significant as many children, especially girls, from remote ethnic minority communities, have faced limited access to education due to the area's harsh climate and challenging terrain.
Educational and cultural centers serve as pivotal spaces where communities engage with knowledge, creativity, and shared experiences. As architectural programs, they offer unique opportunities to explore how physical environments can foster learning, cultural expression, and social interaction. The significance of these projects lies not just in their function but in how they reflect the values and aspirations of society. When established architecture firms take on these projects, their design choices become a lens through which we can examine contemporary approaches to space, place, and community, offering a glimpse into the evolving role of architecture in shaping educational and cultural landscapes.
Among this week's curated list of unbuilt projects submitted by established architecture practices, fala atelier’s project for a school in Broc, Switzerland, stands out with its sensitive integration of Alpine architectural elements; WXCA’s Xylopolis Centre in Poland reflects a deep contemplation on humanity’s relationship with nature, while KPF’s life sciences building in London and Jones Studio’s Water Education Center in Arizona further exemplify how architecture can address contemporary societal needs, from fostering innovation ecosystems to educating the public on critical environmental issues.
As part of the Schools by Circlewood consortium, OMA’s David Gianotten and Michael den Otter, together with Studio A Kwadraat, represented by Jimmy van der Aa, have won the competition to design the Wisperweide school in Weesp. This will become the first school to be built using Schools by Circlewood’s prefabricated wooden modular system, developed in collaboration with OMA. The system has earlier been chosen by the administration of Amsterdam to be employed across the city to provide flexible and sustainable elementary schools.
As the summer days come to an end, the focus naturally shifts to the realm of academia, a space full of curiosity, energy, and ingenuity. For architects, educational spaces are an opportunity for exploration, as they gather eager students together with professors and experts in their respective fields. The environment of educational facilities thus becomes a canvas for the cultivation of creativity, curiosity, and growth. From the playfulness of kindergartens and preschools to the halls of faculties that shape the scholars of tomorrow, the architecture of educational spaces must balance structure and flexibility to respond to the needs of students, teacher, and their larger communities.
This week’s curated selection of Best Unbuilt Architecture highlights designs submitted by the ArchDaily community dedicated to educational institutions. From innovative programs dedicated to child development and community engagement to specialized high schools or inclusive institutions learning to work with locally available materials such as rammed earth, this selection highlights projects dedicated to the exchange of knowledge in its varied forms.
As part of the Circlewood consortium, OMA’s David Gianotten and Michel den Otter have developed a modular system to build schools that can adapt and transform throughout their lifecycle. The system was selected by the City of Amsterdam to be employed to build multiple schools in the coming ten years, as part of the Innovation Partnership School Buildings program. The citywide initiative aims to build nine to thirty “high-quality, flexible, and sustainable” schools as a way to contribute to the city’s goal of becoming fully circular by 2050.
The 61st edition of The Salone del Mobile transformed its general layout and program, including Euroluce, the iconic International Lighting Exhibition in Milan. Curated by architect Beppe Finessi, in collaboration with Formafantasma and the studio Lombardini22, the new vision for The Salone del Mobile will improve accessibility and the trade fair and user experience. Running from 18th to 23rd April 2023 at Rho Fiera Milano, the 2023 Salone will focus on schools and universities under the theme "Design School."
How does school design influence the process of teaching and learning? Understanding current educational design trends and methodologies is key to designing healthy spaces for students to develop their social and academic capacities.
If we look at the evolution of school design through time, we can see that each period has its own challenges and preferences. Today's main challenge in school design is to create spaces that can integrate open learning environments that incorporate diversity of learning spaces, social interaction and sustainability.
The architecture industry seems to constantly be on the lookout for new materials and methodologies that better incorporate sustainability. One material which has stood the test of time, while also finding space for innovation, is wood. In this context, British Columbia (Canada) stands out as one of the world's largest exporters of wood products, and has successfully applied a number of strategies to maximize its use in sustainable design. One notable example, which will be explored in this article, is the use of wood in schools.
LINK Arkitektur has revealed the design of a school that integrates the local climate conditions and challenges within the educational process. Located in Torslanda near Gothenburg, Sweden, where it rains every other day during the school year, the project uses water as a resource for both play and learning, taking a disruptive situation and turning it into an opportunity for understanding nature and the state of the environment.
Hessenwald School in Weiterstadt, Germany, is an example of energy-efficient, contemporary architecture that offers a new teaching and pedagogical model. At the centre of both model and building stands a well-lit and well-ventilated three-storey atrium.
Shaping the future begins with education. For VMDO Principal Rob Winstead, learning spaces go hand in hand with sustainability. As a nationally-recognized expert in education, Winstead is an advocate for blending thoughtful design with high performance goals. In an exclusive interview with ArchDaily, Winstead talks about his personal background and experiences, as well as his role in shaping how VMDO approaches sustainability, education and social justice.
Ten years after a destructive earthquake rocked Italy's central Abruzzo region, many students still attend class in temporary modules similar to containers. Named winners of an international competition, SET Architects’ design for the new “Sassa School Complex” proposes reconstructing a place for students and the community to learn, gather, and grow. Inspired by the modularity and essential nature of climbing frame play structures, the architects describe the design as a metaphor for “freedom and social aggregation as a fundamental value for dynamic and innovative teaching.”
Following up on the AIA's recent update of guidelines regarding school safety, architect Jay Brotman, designer of the new Sandy Hook Elementary School, testified in front of the US Department of Education this week to urge the government to adopt safer standards for design. While not unheard of, it is not typical for architects to stand in front of Congress.
