Educational Architecture: Insight, Innovation and Inspiration

EDUCATIONAL ARCHITECTURE Insight

Innovation Inspiration

Gabrielly de Souza Lima Seminar Booklet . Winter Semester 2019.2020 . Bauhaus University Weimar

GABRIELLY DE SOUZA LIMA - MATRIKELNR. 121699 EDUCATIONAL ARCHITECTURE: INSIGHT, INNOVATION, INSPIRATION - WISE 2019 INTEGRATED URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND DESIGN 2019-2021

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CONTENTS E D U C AT I O N A L A R C H I T E C T U R E

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H ow

can

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H ow

built

space for

space can

connectivist

support

learning

knowledge

approaches be

economy ?

Essay

Study Case

designed ?

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F ragmented campus ?

BUW Campus Analysis

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How can space for connectivist learning approaches be designed?

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I. L earning

space as a

product of the learning process

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n recent years, there were strong shifts in the understanding of how knowledge is developed and transmitted.

Education as a concept reminds Science, term directly connected to neutral and empirical processes.

However, it is also where society express and reinforce its values, being accordingly dynamic and progressively developed. And the spaces for academic education also changed to follow this process, although always a step behind: “buildings are quite conservative in learning space developments. Developments in learning and teaching apparently do not go at such pace that one might speak of a revolutionary change in the learning space designâ€?. (Beckers, et al., 2015). In other words, education processes change, and space is a result that comes afterwards - hardly ever the innovative learning spaces come before innovative pedagogic approaches. Â

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There was an evolution in the understanding of

education. In the past, the early educational approaches supported the transmission of knowledge, from a teacher (active) to students (passive) in a highly hierarchical structure. In the 20th century, this model suffered changes, where the student started to gain active participation to produce learning. At the end of that century and beginning of the 21st century, are considered innovative the teaching methods where the students have a guided learning process, where they learn from each other, and lately, their connection is also considered knowledge. (Siemens, 2008).

These changes in the operational and conceptual

understanding of education were also expressed in its architecture, as stated by Doreen Massey “space is a product and a precondition of all our practices and engagements, then it is integral to the construction of the relations between us, to the blossoming, or not, of identities and to the potential for new futures that we are constantly laying down� (Massey, 2004). So, if firstly space is shaped by education, in return education is also later shaped by physical space.

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II. C ontemporary space design : towards active learner and active citizen

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t is possible to trace an analogy between the changes in urban design and the changes in learning approaches, and this can inform design strategies.

For example, decades ago authors such as Jane Jacobs would advocate for the need

for a mix of activities, and users, in order to reach active citizenship - the citizens were not supposed to be passive on being shaped by space, but they were considered to have an active role as part of the city. Similar to education: the student should not only be trained but also produce knowledge.

More contemporary in Urban Design, researchers

like Jan Gehl, support the idea of thinking public space as a set for human interaction, which should be designed to fit the diversity in society as well as promote exchange. In the meantime, in learning practices, a similar approach is lately seen in the growing demand in the so-called multidisciplinary teams and projects. In such proposals, the quality of the results is commonly related to the variety E DUC ATIO N AL ARC HITE C TURE

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of students’ background involved, and how strongly they interact with each other. If beforehand education environment would encourage competition, now they claim for cooperation. “A network, or federation, approach which supports the development of groups of schools is an important way of challenging the geographies of competition which have damaged so many relationships.”

(McGregor, 2004).

And even the designer’s leadership in this process is being questioned, just like the teachers were questioned in the learning processes. Now the designer is unlikely to take account of the entire design process, as “not to set yourself up as an expert, as someone who has ‘the right answer’”(Ross, Hancock, Bagnall, 2004).

Educational space should be informed by these prepositions, and at this point lays the current challenge for designers: to create spaces that support individual and group work, exchanges in small or bigger groups, also considering future changes in technology.

Also, the integration of different areas of knowledge is following a trend on changes in the entire society, and this issue reflected in space should not be discussed exclusively in the smaller scale of the classroom, but also considering how faculties interact among themselves, and later in the broader scale: how the campus relates to the city

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R eferences Jacobs, Jane “The Death and Life of Great American Cities”. New York: Random House, 1961.

Gehl, J. “Cities for People”. Island Press. 2010.

Massey, Doreen. Foreword. FORUM, Volume 46, No. 1 p-1. 2004.

McGregor, Jane. “Editorial”. FORUM, Volume 46, No. 1, p-4. 2004.

Ronald Beckers Theo van der Voordt Geert Dewulf, (2015), “A conceptual framework to identify spatial implications of new ways of learning in higher education”, Facilities, Vol. 33 Iss 1/2 pp. 2 - 19 Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/F-02-2013-0013 Ross, Michaela; Hancock, Roger; Bagnall, Kate.

“Pedagogy in a Public Space: children and adults learning together at Tate Modern”. FORUM, Volume 46, No. 1 p-26. 2004.

Siemens, G. (2008), “Learning and knowing in networks: Changing roles for educators and designers”, available at https://www.academia.edu/2857165/ Learning_and_knowing_in_networks_Changing_roles_ for_educators_and_designers (accessed 12 November 2019).

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How built space can support knowledge economy?

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e live in the called Information Age, the global economy has moved toward the knowledge economy.

Where, knowledge-

based factors create an interconnected and global economy where sources of knowledge, such as human expertise and trade secrets, are crucial factors in economic growth and are considered important economic resources.

In a knowledge economy, a significant part of a company’s value may consist of intangible assets such as the value of its workers’ knowledge or intellectual capital. Its main assets are:

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Institutional structures that provide incentives for entrepreneurship and the use of knowledge Availability of skilled labour and a good education system Access to information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructures A vibrant innovation landscape that includes academia, the private sector, and civil society

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I

n such economy the learning process is a continuing process over the working life.

Learning and working are not separated, instead overlapping processes. This is a trend not only for educational institutions, become a company, but also for the

opposite: companies become educational spaces. For example, Google Campus.

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Image 1: Google Campus/Google for Startups. Source: campus.co. access in 10.02.2020.

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B

esides its own main company Google has sub-companies focused on providing this workinglearning environment, they have several global units with the following facilities:

Residency: mentorship and workspace at Google Immersion: 12 week immersion of proposal to a different urban setting Meetups: opportunities for knowledge & experience exchange Talks at Campus: Premier speaker’s lecture for inspiration S t a r t u p S c h o o l : Tr a i n i n g o n m a n a g e m e n t , entrepreneurship and UX Design.

Summit Events How the space for these functions can be designed?

First there are the requirements: facilitate teamwork, flexibility, reconfiguration, collaboration, interaction, innovation.

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According to Whitespace (2014) Space is liberated from the heaviness of architecture and made into a pleasant free-space where presumably anything could happen at any time. In order to do that some architects adopted: Scaleless Floorplate provides a neutral barrier-free setting for uninterrupted expansion and repetition in any direction.

Furniture, not Architecture is used as the main strategy to create space and organize boundaries. Furniture contributes to the temporary event.

Uniformity over Contrast. Instead of creating variation, everything is regulated to a singular ideal soothing temperature, noise and light levels.

Architecture as Image: Free from other obligations, architecture is reduced to the articulation of faรงade effects to create image and reinforce brand.

Then back to the Google example, how they plan their space?

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g oogle c alifornia m ountain v iew 2015 Here the architects were Bjarke Ingels and Heatherwick studio. Following some of the mentioned concepts, they proposed a new campus, which instead of constructing immoveable concrete buildings, they choose to create lightweight block-like structures which could be moved around easily as the company decides invest in different product areas.

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Large translucent canopies will cover each site, controlling the climate inside yet letting in light and air. With trees, landscaping, cafes, and bike paths weaving through these structures, the project aimed to blur the distinction between buildings and nature.

This project was about more single use of office space; it included functions to interact with the local community as well. So it would involve lots of bike paths and retail opportunities, like restaurants, for local businesses.

And according to this project, many questions emerge, for example: Can these previous concepts be framework for future design?

Is there still a difference between working and learning space (in knowledge economy)?

What other issues can be brought by such development?

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R eferences Hayes, Adam. “Knowledge Economy”. Investopedia, 2020. Source: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/k/ knowledge-economy.asp. Published on 2020, access on 10.02.2020 Whitespace, Gouldevans. “The Decorated Shed: The Architecture of the Knowledge Economy”. Source: https://blog.gouldevans.com/the-decorated-shed-thearchitecture-of-the-knowledge-economy/. Published on 2014, access on 10.02.2020.

Sources for Projects’ Image: Frearson, Amy. “BIG and Heatherwick unveil “vibrant new neighbourhood” for Google’s California HQ”. Source Dezeen portal, Published on 2015, access on 10.02.2020.

Frearson, Amy. “LinkedIn blocks BIG and Heatherwick’s proposed Google HQ”. Source Dezeen portal, Published on 2015, access on 10.02.2020.

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Fragmented Campus?

Campus analysis Bauhaus University Weimar

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hat would be the contemporary benefits and

constraints

of studying at a condensed campus or a fragmented

campus, in terms of student experience?

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C ondensed C ampus The condensed campus or Campus Island, is a spatial distribution where the university buildings are allocated into a very defined boundary, being more like a satellite from the city. This concept was also developed from the American campus.

Some claimed features would be to have very particular lifestyle, stronger branding related to place, condensed urban life since students live, party and consume inside the campus. One example is the Princeton University (1746, USA) which is quite outside the city of Trenton, and as in the following image, is almost like a metropolitan centre in relation to the main city.

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F ragmented C ampus The fragmented campus is a spatial distribution where the university buildings are allocated among other buildings in the city. This concept was more developed from the European campi, and some claimed features would be to have very integrated living style, consuming and living in the city, which means sharing many infrastructure and places with regular citizens.

This type of campus claims to provide better mobility, better opportunities for interactions between students from different subjects, and citizens to meet. And one example of this would be Bauhaus University, founded in 1860, where the university buildings are completely merged in the urban fabric of the city.

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onsidering this concept of the Fragmented campus, can we prove its benefits through the experience of students?

The following survey was made online between 22.1.2020 and

28.01.2020. The students were asked I asked about their experience on three factors: Connectivity and Urban Mobility, Social Interaction and Academic exchange, Identity and Belonging.

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I. C onnectivity and U rban M obility So considering the three modes of transport in Weimar: Bicycle ,Bus, Walking, how students arrive at University, how this transportation affects their experience and relationship with the city?

Question 1. Does using public transportation supports interaction between students and citizens?

According to the survey, YES, most of students who used public transport talked to locals in this situation.

The second question, does walking or cycling in the city to the campus make you discover the city differently?

According to the survey, YES, most of students declared to try different routes to go to same place, it can be, discovering the city.

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II. S ocial

interaction

and academic exchange

Do the layout of the fragmented campus support visibility and exchange among staff, students and citizens?

To answer this question is needed to understand how people met other people out of their normal study program/nationality group in the university.

So the questions were: have you made friends/ acquaintance/colleagues which are not from your study program or from your hometown/home country?

Which most of students answered yes, And from these, where have you met these people?

The results show that even if most students met strangers at the university`s installations, still more than 42% made friends outside (for example on transportation, WG, partys, etc).

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III. I dentity

and

belonging

Since students experience the city and the university at the same time, it can be really hard to separate the identity of one place from another. So how much this affects the strength of university`s image?

In order to understand what image students have about University, students were asked: When you hear “Bauhaus-University Weimar� do you have a clear image on your mind?

If yes what do you see/visualize it?

Most of people replied to have a clear image of the university, which is connected to the main building, but still when trying to define this image many people mention about Weimar in their answers. Which proves that this fragmented campus also makes people mix the image of the city and the image of the university.

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IV. C onclusions

from

survey Most of the assumptions in which where conflicts were expected to be found about Bauhaus University, and the fragmented campus proved to be true. And this research helped to identify the weaknesses and potentials of the fragmented campus. Of course recognising that there are many limitations on this specific research since the very small sample and lack of comparison to the campus island. But still this survey is much more relevant than personal experience.

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