Schools and Kindergartens: A Design Manual

Abstract

What is the relationship between pedagogical visions and space for children? I ask this question because it is in my view a key to understanding good school or pre-school architecture, and is a primary idea which lies at the heart of this publication. Whilst we want and need buildings which respond to the immediate require- ments of contemporary society, the schools we build now are also for a future which is hard to predict. De- signers of school buildings need ‘the vision thing’. And one might ask the question, what should dictate the vision, education or architecture? Eight years ago when this book was first published the talk then was all about how we could raise the qual- ity of our learning environments. Architectural quality was at the focus of the agenda which promoted the power of good design to boost the educational and social attainment of students using the new schools, par- ticularly those in deprived areas. Now it seems the world has changed. In this new age of austerity, the prevail- ing attitude appears to play down the role of architecture, it is simply too expensive. Much of the emphasis is now on simple solutions which are cheap and practical.