Thoughts on Architecture for Education: Designing with intention

By: Isabella Martins de Bastos

An educational space is one we are all quite familiar with. Everyone has gone through the experience of learning, even if not in a classroom. What defines an educational space, however, can be ambiguous. Is it a space where “educating,” as a verb, occurs? Or perhaps a place where “education,” as a noun, resides? And what do these words truly mean? Understanding the fundamentals of what one is designing is crucial in order to design with intention.

One way to begin defining education is to expand it beyond the idea of solely acquiring knowledge. Looking back at some of the pioneers of education, such as Aristotle and the ancient Greeks, we find the belief that education was intrinsically related to civic duty, social interaction, and the foundation of ethics itself. Aristotle’s peripatetic teaching method relied on walking through the streets of Athens while discussing philosophy with his students. Thus, how can we not define the streets of Athens, at that moment, as an educational space?

Aristotle’s peripatetic teaching method, 335 BC.

An educational space, therefore, should not be limited to a building, but rather any physical space where these rich interactions are taking place. We learn from the city, from nature and animals, from elders with greater experience, from neighbors and friends. Learning is not simply being taught mathematics, science, or language from a textbook, but living and experiencing how these ideas take form in our daily lives.

Where does architecture come in, you may ask? It really has been present all along. Architecture is the sensitive reading of human behavior and of how we interact with one another. It is the discipline that shapes and molds space to meet our needs. An important discussion we had at the beginning of our course at Yacademy centered on how we can relearn from the past, recovering what we once knew worked, but somehow lost along the way. Who decided that learning only occurs in a closed-off classroom, where we sit restlessly counting down the minutes until break time, regardless of our age? Aristotle, in 335 BC, knew better than that. Instinctively, we respond better to the thought of a freer way of teaching and learning. So why do we insist on repeating existing standards when we know they no longer reflect our reality?

Designing with intention means remaining conscious, as architects, at every moment of the design process. It requires constantly questioning our decisions. Why should I design architecture for education as a rectangular volume with long corridors and even rooms? What kind of experience does this create for students and teachers who will inhabit this space for years to come?

Casa de las Estrellas Waldorf School, Garza, Costa Rica,Salagnac Arquitectos, 2019

This is a wake-up call for us to be bolder, to adopt a human-centered approach to design, while also acknowledging that we live in the twenty-first century. We do not need to replicate standards that may have worked during the Industrial Revolution or post-World War eras, periods in which educational design seems to have stagnated and not changed much since.

One of the most impactful lectures we attended this semester was by the Italian architect and scholar Edoardo Milesi, who spoke about the sociological dimensions of education beyond the school building. He emphasized the importance of engaging the whole body in the learning process, not just the brain. In fact, his studies suggest that only 5% of our decisions are made only by our brains, while 95% are influenced by the rest of the body.

We cannot ignore these contemporary studies, combined with practices known for millennia, and continue to insist on traditional approaches to architecture for education.

In a world filled with inconsistencies, fear, and misinformation, education is one of our most important collective responsibilities. It ensures the development of critical and independent thinking. And this is how we, as architects, can contribute to shape a future in which education is in fact a priority.