Saved by the Bell: A Feminist Approach to High School Architecture

<p>The years spent as high school students are some of the most formative to the development of confidence in identity, and in preparing young people to be resilient adults. The school environments in which development occurs have an imperative role to play in providing space for identity to form freely and in providing equal opportunity for students to succeed. This research will focus on understanding how architecture might provide the space for identities to form freely and how processes and spatial outcomes could encourage this development to happen equitably. This research engages feminist theory, processes and practices to increase spatial agency and identity agency for students. Encouraging the autonomy of students hopes to influence a sense of purpose and belonging to the space, and help students feel belonging within a community. The theoretical position of this research is between feminist practice and gender and space. Supporting fields of research include pedagogy and policy. Whilst each existing field is independently expansive in scope, this research explores how these fields intersect, overlap and function when applied to the context of high school architecture. A design-led methodology will inform four Pieces towards the completion of this research, each considering ‘design’ as the process, outcome and representation strategies. The first Piece, Processes, will involve the design and running of participatory workshops with students. The second Piece, Sites, will include photo analysis of existing schools to uncover what information existing architecture might be disseminating. The third Piece, Interventions, will be the design of actionable guides, posters, zines and ‘take- aways’ that share the findings of the research. The fourth and final Piece, Speculations, will include speculative concept designs that respond to the accumulated knowledge and provoke curiosity for the potential in this research area and way of practicing. The outcomes of this research, the feminist architectural processes, designs and communication, aim to better understand how to facilitate participation in architecture for identity development and therefore help equalise opportunities in education.</p>

Saved by the Bell: A Feminist Approach to High School Architecture

<p>The years spent as high school students are some of the most formative to the development of confidence in identity, and in preparing young people to be resilient adults. The school environments in which development occurs have an imperative role to play in providing space for identity to form freely and in providing equal opportunity for students to succeed. This research will focus on understanding how architecture might provide the space for identities to form freely and how processes and spatial outcomes could encourage this development to happen equitably. This research engages feminist theory, processes and practices to increase spatial agency and identity agency for students. Encouraging the autonomy of students hopes to influence a sense of purpose and belonging to the space, and help students feel belonging within a community. The theoretical position of this research is between feminist practice and gender and space. Supporting fields of research include pedagogy and policy. Whilst each existing field is independently expansive in scope, this research explores how these fields intersect, overlap and function when applied to the context of high school architecture. A design-led methodology will inform four Pieces towards the completion of this research, each considering ‘design’ as the process, outcome and representation strategies. The first Piece, Processes, will involve the design and running of participatory workshops with students. The second Piece, Sites, will include photo analysis of existing schools to uncover what information existing architecture might be disseminating. The third Piece, Interventions, will be the design of actionable guides, posters, zines and ‘take- aways’ that share the findings of the research. The fourth and final Piece, Speculations, will include speculative concept designs that respond to the accumulated knowledge and provoke curiosity for the potential in this research area and way of practicing. The outcomes of this research, the feminist architectural processes, designs and communication, aim to better understand how to facilitate participation in architecture for identity development and therefore help equalise opportunities in education.</p>

The educationalization of school architecture in Switzerland between 1840 and 1950

This paper analyses and contrasts the evolution of school architecture competitions, selected submitted projects and built schoolhouses, programmatic and professional literature, school building exhibitions and public reactions to them aiming at answering the following research question: How did architecture competitions, educational reforms and programmatic or professional literature contribute to the educationalization of the school building between 1835 and 1950 in Switzerland? The question will be approached from a perspective of educationalization, knowledge transfer and circulation between professional and political knowledge or discourses on education and practices of architecture competitions by contextualizing school building reform discourses within general school and education reform processes. The evolution of school building architecture competitions in Switzerland and the participation of a variety of actors demonstrate how the school building became a co-educator, how historical building designs are constantly naturalised to fit reform programs, and the relevance of calls for tender as source for the history of education.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ARCHITECTURE OF FOLK SCHOOLS IN POLAND BETWEEN XIX –XX CENTURIES

The article analyzes the historical and cultural heritage of Polish rural public school architecture at the turn of the XIX and XX centuries. The evolution of the architecture of educational spaces in Poland, which took place under the influence of a combination of cultural and national traditions and a complex set of socio-political, socio-economic, internal and external factors, was considered. General concepts of styles of school facades, planning features of small schools, performed a spatial analysis of school spaces and identified its planning features. The architecture of Polish public schools in the second half of the 1920’s was largely influenced by the requirements of the new school reform accepted after the First World War. Elements that fit the postulates of school reform began to be used, but above all, it reflected conservative building traditions. Architects, in the spirit of the era, in the construction of school buildings referred to the ideas of modernism. The size and shape of windows has increased, corridors have expanded, toilets in schools have been designed, and even fountains for drinking water in school corridors. The size and number of classrooms and furnishings have also changed. As a result, it has formed a more comfortable and fully adapted modern school premises. The schools were built mainly on the initiative and funds of local communities and philanthropists. Most of the schools built during that period are still operational. The projects of these schools have developed interiors and provided typical layout of the school grounds, used advanced engineering, design and hygiene solutions that suited the spirit of the era and fully met the needs of teachers and students. That is why till now the Polish public schools are of great importance for the history of the Polish people and world architecture history.

Rethinking post-Covid-19 school design in Brazil: adaptation strategies for public schools PEE-12 FNDE

In 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the disease COVID-19, whose causative virus is SARS-CoV-2, a pandemic. An important measure was the closure of schools in several countries to try to reduce the contagion levels, so that students were not exposed to risk, nor their families. The question that arises within this context is: In school architecture, what are the appropriate design methods to deal with challenges during and after a pandemic? In this scope, the article aimed to propose an adaptive design scenario in the post-pandemic moment for a standard school in Brazil. The methodology was built through a literature review and multidisciplinary research, to later present strategies based on the recommendations of competent bodies and studies focused on the school architecture, design patterns for 21st-century schools, technology and security. The focus was on design challenges in the education field in the post-pandemic moment, and on the adaptation of the school built spaces for the return of activities. The results can help the school community and public agencies in making decisions to face this challenge, recreating safer, user-centered schools.