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Design+ Designing future schools

Contemporary school design draws on long- The open-plan schools of the 1960s – 1970s in the
standing societal traditions, as well as narratives of UK, the United States of America (USA), and Australasia
current practices and potential future influences. Several were an attempt to “break the box” in response to a range
different educational spaces are apparent in the design of of social trends. Open classrooms were based on a new
modern schools, demonstrating a movement away from philosophy of education with ideas about individuality,
institutional predictability toward multi-dimensional autonomy, democracy, and liberal political movements
characterizations of an uncertain future. The abstractions including civil rights, antiwar protests, and feminist
apparent within modern design are overwhelming and and environmental activism that questioned traditional
complex. This review has identified five instrumental authority and conventions of education. Open-plan
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themes or concepts that provide an outline of future school schools – including a mix of room sizes and capacity,
design influences. use of technology such as television and computers, and
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The paper commences with a brief review of previous open community spaces for up to 200 students – made up
trends in school design concepts, followed by an outline of almost half of the new elementary schools built between
future influential concepts. The attention here is focused 1967 and 1970 in the USA. 9
on those concepts that have both educational and design The belief among educators and designers was that
meaning, acknowledging their tensions, inter-relatedness, open design was essential to replace a rigid teacher-driven
unpredictability, and instability. The instrumental concepts transmission system with a humanistic, student-oriented,
identified are context, culture and place; community active, or exploratory learning culture. The innovative
ecosystem; personalized experience; flexibility; and agency. enthusiasm of educators for autonomy, experimentation,
The conclusion summarizes the considerations for future collaboration, and opportunity for systemic change tended
school design. to outpace teacher or student expertise, preparation, or
The concepts were identified following a semi- support to effectively work or learn in these spaces. 9-11
systematic review of literature from the previous two These schools were often criticized for creating chaotic,
decades where research was related to both educational crowded, noisy and distracting environments where the
trends and concepts and consideration of the design new democratic excitement of teachers led to a mishmash
implications for contemporary and imminent school of pedagogical improvisations, and negative educational
learning environments. Due to the qualitative nature of outcomes. 9,11
much of this research, some seminal pieces of work that The 1980s saw the rapid fall of open-plan designs
contextualized the current trends or referenced conceptual from favor, with many open spaces in schools being
origins of educational theories and models were also re-segmented and reworked to accommodate more
included in the study. The review has identified how traditional pedagogies. The backlash against open plan can
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research within the burgeoning fields of education and be attributed in part to a shift from liberal to conservative
related infrastructure design has progressed over time policies, as conservatives called for back-to-basics
and developed across these research traditions, providing curriculum and standardized testing in response to a
an understanding of how these concepts are integrated in
both the disciplinary conventions of education and design. stagnating economy and perceptions of declining academic
standards and increasing violence in urban schools. 7,12
2. School design trends From the 1990s, a renewal of interest in progressive
The traditional design of schools remains based on pedagogies emerged to prepare students for the
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theaters, lecture halls, and auditoria from the 11 century. 21 -century economy. Design concepts kept pace with
th
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This historical influence is shown in enclosed classrooms this interest as demonstrated by the creation of learning
with rows of desks, with the teacher (lecturer, expert) communities, active or future learning classrooms, and
located at the front. During the 1800s, the classroom model so-called innovative learning environments. New designs
was expanded with schools largely made up of multiple tended to be a conglomerate of different spaces grouped
classrooms with students grouped by age. Some related in clusters or communities, often centered on a learning
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variance was apparent with the introduction of science commons. These spaces supported a range of teaching
laboratories for the application and experimentation; and practices, including social constructivism, project-based
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even the emergence of student-centered learning apparent, learning, collaborative learning, creative and critical
for instance, in Montessori Schools. The standard box thinking, as well as interdisciplinary, experiential, and
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classroom endures as the dominant or core school design embodied student experiences. This design approach
form, despite being disparaged as “egg-crates,” “cells,” reflected a deliberative consideration of the relationship
“silos”, “factory” or “cages”. between pedagogy and spatial form. 14

Volume 1 Issue 1 (2024) 2 doi: 10.36922/dp.4131