Educational Indoor/Outdoor Spaces

Where do students hang out in school?  Those large group/transitional areas can be critical to how students perceive the functionality and aesthetics of their school.  I remember in high school when the district decided to remodel our one "hang out" space during the school year.  Kids wandered the halls and it became hard to monitor the students and keep disruptions down.  One way that I see becoming more and more important is not only the "hang out" spaces but the connection of the students to their environment.  Indoor/outdoor spaces can provide great spaces for socializing or large gatherings but they can also provide that connection that students need to have with their environment.  The design of good transitional indoor/outdoor spaces can also be used as extensions of the classroom.

 I love the use of perforated metals and shade screens to provide transitional indoor/outdoor spaces at the Saguaro Building at Mesa Community College, Mesa, Arizona. Using high volumes on the shade screens provides a comfortable environment for large groups.  The use of newer glass opening walls also is a successful way to open up spaces creating that indoor/outdoor experience, extending teaching or large group spaces.

Youth Factory

I love thinking about how kids learn and we seem to always think about classrooms and interior learning environments.  Think back to when you were a kid and playing on the playground or at the park, did you learn things there that you couldn't learn in a classroom?  I believe that the outdoor environments can be designed in a way that encourage interaction, cooperation and relaxation.  Architects sometimes take so much time and energy to design the interior environments of schools and public places of learning they neglect the outdoor environments.

I recently found an amazing outdoor space that is just a great outdoor environment that stimulates children to engage one another and creates spaces where more interaction can take place.  What's really cool about this space is that it is called a "Youth Factory".  We think of a factory where widgets get made and it is a really sterile environment, but "youth" really changes the connotation of the idea of a factory.  These spaces are where kids are made!  Check out the full website of the space, it really is an amazing space:

http://www.thecoolhunter.com.au/article/detail/1976/youth-factory--merida-spain

Paradigm Shifts in Educational Design

Premise for this blog: True Architecture is always a response to paradigm shifts that happen in an ever-changing society.  A particular interest to me is the design of Educational Spaces.  As educational theories and models continue to change and evolve the architecture of learning spaces needs to respond to those changes.  This blog is an attempt to capture the best ideas on the fluid nature of architecture and learning space design.

I recently found a great website where you can design your own classroom with a limited set of furniture and technology items that begins to start a discourse about what a 21st century classroom should look like.

http://www.teq.com/classroom

Check it out whether you are a designer, student, teacher, or parent it stops and makes you think.  Let me know if you post a design there, I'm interested to see other people's thoughts. Below are a couple ideas that people have posted of their classroom designs.  Let me know what you think.