The Cultural Architecture of Schools: A Study of the Relationship between School Design, the Learning Environment and Learning Communities in New Schools

Abstract

The literature in the area of educational facilities design and the built environment for schools is both vast and fragmented. Broadly speaking, the literature can be grouped into three types, with the first type using the notion of the classroom as a “Third Teacher” constituting physical space as an active agent in the learning process. This type argues the building is a silent teaching partner and the purpose of good design is to remove hindrances to its voice and influence. The second type focuses on educational facilities planning and approaches design in a more pragmatic manner. The emphasis is upon isolating specific design elements that are common to all school structures (for example..