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EDITOR’S LETTER
Going with the flow Irena Barker Editorial adviser
In the UK at least, life after lockdown has meant donning a warm jacket and taking to a pavement café or hosting a barbecue in the chilly garden. The trend towards society taking place outside, online, and in our homes – rather than in exclusive, monolithic and centralised buildings – is also reflected in how many people are now rethinking the role of the bricks-and-mortar school in education. In this highly international issue, Ksenia Dokukina discusses how Russian education is moving away from traditional classrooms and making better use of natural spaces, museums, parks and research centres. “The pandemic has demonstrated that academic resources can no longer be owned and provided solely by schools,” she says. Architectural designer Charlie Edmonds takes these ideas even further in his report on “Void Pedagogy” in Japan. Inspired by the rural Kinokuni Children’s Village, he proposes the possibility of going beyond traditional schools and using empty urban sites in Tokyo as places for experiential learning. Of course, we cannot ignore the role technology has played in education throughout the pandemic. Many of us complained that online learning during lockdown lacked interactivity, humanity and, quite frankly, excitement. But on page 16 Hugh Gatenby paints his near-future vision of a greatly enhanced virtual learning experience.
There will always be a place for central buildings, and Planning Learning Spaces is always among the first to champion leading designs that create a unique educational experience. On page 08, we profile the beautiful YueCheng Courtyard Kindergarten in Beijing, China. Looking like a cross between a golf course, Uluru and an ancient Chinese courtyard, the building instantly sparks the imagination, triggering possibilities for play and learning. We also highlight the possibilities posed by the Col.legi Montserrat Early Childhood Learning Centre in Barcelona, a place where physical and mental “flow” sit at the heart of modern education. The Hungarian-American psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi defined Flow as an optimal state of consciousness where we remain happy while doing things that stretch our skills and help us to reach our potential. As the role of the school building evolves, making way for new approaches and possibilities, perhaps we would all do well to go with it.
