Thesis booklet Ruta Austrina

Supporting holistic learning practices through design of a flexible primary school building Aalto University Department of Architecture Master Thesis of Ruta Austrina

Supporting holistic learning practices through design of a flexible primary school building Contents Thesis Abstract 6

Global and local context and interpretation

Current demands on education and spatial implications

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View to the past - The forming and dissolving of a spatial typology for schools

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Direct method for research - Conversations with experts in education

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Context of education in Latvia

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Vision of a new experimental school

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Reference projects

15 Conclusions and design task 22 Identified 9 relevant learning practices Physical FLEXIBILITY enabling development of learning practices

Experimental pilot school location and design

Cesis - developing city for families Building Design

Bibliography

List of illustrations

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25 30

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Supporting holistic learning practices through design of a flexible primary school building Thesis Abstract The architectural aim of this thesis work is to design a primary school building where holistic learning practices are supported spatially and can be developed over time due to the physical flexibility of the building.

A wider societal aim is to create a vision of an experimental pilot school that helps to implement systematic change in the current education system of Latvia.

The work is structured in an initial research part that aims to define the task for subsequent building design part.

The research part introduces the scene of educational practices in the dynamic 21st century world and briefly looks at how the existing main typologies of school buildings have originated in the past.

Direct research through meetings with educational experts in Latvia and Finland is described followed by the context of education in Latvia.

Following global trends, this is a country that is on the threshold of all-embracing change in education - a transition from teacher-directed to student-directed learning based on gaining competences through active projects and authentic experiences. In this context of change a vision for a new experimental pilot school suggests cooperation between the state, municipality and local universities that teach pedagogy. This will be a place where new pedagogical practices can be tested and developed to further introduce in schools around the country.

In order to further identify the most relevant holistic learning practices and ways they might be supported in architectural space selected reference projects are looked at. The research part is concluded by identifying a list of nine learning practices that are central to allow for an all-rounded development of a child.

These are: - Building an inclusive strong school community - Parents learning with children - Creating a smaller unity within ‘home‘ areas - Teachers cooperating to join or subdivide class groups - Learning as teams - Encouraging of individual decision-making 6

- Working in mixed age groups - Learning by doing through multidisciplinary projects - Learning in the nature The aim of a new building design is to offer ways to support these practices in space as well as allow them to develop over time. Thus, the focus on long term physical flexibility is introduced in the conclusions of research part.

The design introduction firstly introduces the chosen fast developing, family friendly town of Cēsis, The building site allocated by municipality for a new educational building is located between residential areas and natural territory belonging to River Gauja National park.

The design part explains the main organisational principles of the building and further illustrates how the above mentioned practices are supported.

The main decision for the organization of the building is to place units of home areas with classrooms and speciality subject areas around a multi-purpose central hall used for catering, gatherings, building projects, performances and many others. Thus the crucial practice of building a school’s community spirit is catered for. A far wide view down a hillside to the North is offered from this space. The Building is connected to the town by a curved access route that naturally leads one inside, around the main hall and further outside into a South facing courtyard towards a forest where the second - Kindergarten entrance is located. This is an inviting gesture for parents, amongst others, to visit the building frequently.

Three ‘home areas’ are located to the South-East thus complying with local building regulation, while the speciality areas, library, canteen and Kindergarten are facing South-West to fit for pupil and community use in afternoons and evenings.

Each home cluster includes 4 home classrooms on two floors. Overall 12 classrooms are inhabited by pupils from 1st to 6th grade. Each classroom hosts 25 pupils, which means up to 300 pupils are learning in the school, supplemented with 30 kindergarten pupils. Mixed age groups inhabit the same home area that speeds up pupils’ progress.

In a home area a double hight common area is shared by all groups for

informal meetings as well as for group or individual study during lessons.

This is where the smaller ‘home area‘ unity is formed. This room opens to the main hall by inhabitable rotating walls where study space can be created at the threshold between school’s and cluster’s gathering spaces. The cluster’s common room can be merged with the ground floor classrooms via wide folding doors. Additionally, adjacent classrooms on both floors can be joined to support teacher cooperation. Each home area also offers a space to be alone for reading or decision making. It is a smaller room at the top (3rd level) overlooking the common room and surrounding landscape from above.

Studies in this building happen by active team and individual projects where students choose the needed resources including art and woodworking areas, computer-clusters and library, science labs or cooking facilities.

All these are located in close proximity and overlap in shared spaces, thus encouraging interdisciplinary learning. The high experimentarium spaces for active creation in front of special areas and home clusters represent the area visibly for by-passers.

Students choose to study in areas distributed around the school, for example in the main hall, the galleries surrounding it with great view to landscape or quieter peripheral areas between building’s volumes.

An overarching principle is that the whole building as well as the home areas offer a variety of spaces on the line between unity (togetherness) and seclusion (self reflection).

The mentioned long term physical flexibility is ensured by :

- use of the organisational principle of ‘served and servant’ areas to create clear, unobstructed zones suitable for many purposes next to zones with wet facilities, vertical circulations etc.

- building’s organization on site to allow horizontal extendibility while maintaining its integrity and the sense of whole.

To sum up, this work offers a building for contemporary holistic learning to foster in the present and future and a wider vision of how such a building contributes to the implementation of systematic change in Latvian education scene.

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Global and local context and interpretation Current demands on education and spatial implications

The current and future generations of children will grow up to live in a world that today’s adults cannot fully imagine, nor determine the specific knowledge and skills needed for successful life in the fast changing globalized societies. The world is facing great environmental challenges, economic and social unrest and rapid changes in technology.

Therefore, according to educational experts, it is crucial to develop the traits of character and a combination of soft and hard skills, that will help the future adults to react adequately to complex situations. According to educationalists of The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, these traits include creativity, adaptability, critical-thinking, cooperativeness, self-direction and self -management in settings and communities with less hierarchy, compared to those of previous generations1.

These traits of character cannot be developed merely by ‘transmission of information’2, but rather by active engagement in investigative activities, participatory processes, creative, self-directed projects.

With the guidance of a ‘master learner’3 - the teacher pupils can experience the decision making process and take responsibility for the outcomes of their creation. Thus, they learn life itself while still at school.

Education and learning expert Julia Atkin has summarised timeless principles of effective learning already in the end of 20th century based on insights in neuroscience, educational psychology and maturing educational theory in the last two to three decades. The author states that ‘at its most powerful, learning is:

- Intrinsically motivated and lifelong: learner driven learning is transformative and generative

-Personal - making personal meaning and building personal capacity in a safe, supportive but challenging environment

- Relational : gaining support and inspiration from learning with others, being challenged by others

- Holistic and experiential: the whole person learning through participating in authentic, purposeful and experiential activities,

- Complex and non-linear: holistic grown through active engage1 Atkin, Julia. Transforming spaces for learning. In Designing for Education, Compendium of Exemplary Educational Facilities, OECD Centre for Effective Learning Environments, 13-18, OECD Publishing, 2011, p.24.

2 ibid.

3 ibid.

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ment and integration rather than simply an accumulation of layers.’4

The transition from a ‘teacher-directed to self -directed learning’ decreases instruction time and increases time for individual and team work on practical projects. This has great spatial implications because subdividing a larger group according to interests and providing facilities for discussion, searching for information, creative exploration and testing, selfreflection, production and presentation requires free access to specific spaces and facilities that extend far beyond the possibilities of an enclosed traditional classroom. It is a non-linear process of learning in which students may use large and small, quit and communal spaces, rooms with computer and book resources and spatially generous spaces for material explorations, experiments, building and exhibition. The use of such facilities become less formal to suit the immediate needs of a group of students or individuals.

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To enable multidisciplinary and personalised learning great flexibility and team-working is required also from teachers.6 The interaction of teachers will have influence on space, above all, in the possible openness of a classroom.

Besides building practical know-how skills and acquiring knowledge for future life, early childhood and school years is a crucial time for experiences of interaction with adults and peers, that will have a permanent effect on person’s life. Educational practices can go hand in hand with spatial solutions to make sure that a child has feelings of being welcome, safe, accepted and belonging to a tight group of peers. Space help pedagogues to encourage social interactions in a small group, while gradually opening it up to a wider scope of children and finally provide a feeling of connectedness to the whole school’s community.

Healthy interactions, inclusive approach and building bridges to families and community are stressed by educationalists as the most important principles for a child’s development, even prior to acquiring 4 Atkin, Julia. From Values and Beliefs about Learning to Principles and Practice, Seminar Series No.54, IARTV, Melbourne, www.cse.edu.au, 1996.

5 Kuhn, Christian. Learning Environments for the 21st Century. In Designing for Education, Compendium of Exemplary Educational Facilities, OECD Centre for Effective Learning Environments, 13-18, OECD Publishing, 2011, p. 20.

6 Atkin, Julia. op. cit. p.30.

specific hard skills and experiences. 7 Therefore great attention will be devoted in the thesis building design part to address how space can help creating nurturing relationships within all people involved.

Following the understanding of oneself as part of the schools and wider surrounding community, the school should foster one’s awareness and responsibility of belonging to a global community and ecosystem, in other words, being connected to the social and environmental processes worldwide. In a Micro-Macro approach Global education8 happens locally by understanding the surrounding ecosystem and participating in natural processes, for example, by growing own food near the school.

Thus choice of site and building organization with direct connections to the natural environment should be planned for.

Prior to seeing how these demands on education are reflected in spatial terms in selected reference schools, the next section views back at how has the typology of isolated classroom come around and what has already been done to dissolve ‘the fortress of the classroom‘9 in the 20th century.

7 International Step by Step Association. Competent Educators of the 21st Century, Principles of Quality Pedagogy. Riga: Createch Ltd, 2010.

View to the past The forming and dissolving of a spatial typology for schools

The classroom is the repetitive unit that gives a clear structure to school planning and has made the job of architects relatively easy.

However, it is important to remember that this typology has only been around for two centuries. The words of Lois Kahn might help us to re-imagine learning situations that are naturally arousing from a person’s intrinsic curiosity:

‘I think of school as an environment of spaces where it is good to learn. Schools began with a man under a tree, who did not know he was a teacher, discussing his realization with a few, who did not know they were students. The students aspired that their sons also listened to such a man. Spaces were erected and the first school became. It can be said that the existance will of school was there even before the circumstances of a man under a tree. That is why it is good for the mind to go back to the beginning, because the beginning of any established activity is its most wonderful moment.‘10

We might ask what is the initial motivation for going to school?

Is it the inlaid wish of each human being to understand the world? Is it the natural wish to share? Or perhaps the eagerness to create together something outside ourselves.

Industrial Era

For the past 200 years young generations have been educated in the spirit of the Industrial Age that had fundamentally reorganized European societies by the mid-19th century. As described by prof. Christian Kuhn, Technical University Vienna, the school had become an institution designed to drill people for the economy of machine age which depended on reliable and productive workforce, people who could effectively operate within the system without questioning it’.11

In the classroom – the spatial symbol of this age - teacher is controlling the space by delivering pre-defined knowledge and requiring students to remember and repeat the information afterwards. Spatially it is a clear hierarchical order with a single focus of attention on the teacher and blackboard where children are obliged to sit in static rows of seating.

10Lobell, John. Between Silence and Light, Spirit in the architecture of Lois Kahn. Boulder: Shambala, 1979, p.47.

11 Kuhn, Christian. loc.cit.

Post - Industrial Era

There have been system integrated attempts in the Western societies to provide spatial alternatives to this strict domain of the teacher12 in the post-industrial shift to a more service oriented society. The Western world experienced a large demand for new-built schools from the 50s to 70s as the education system expanded due to demographic rise and increase in the years of schooling (OECD, Blyth, 2011). Here re-evaluating quality and efficiency of the built school environments became a central theme that resulted in USA in around 2000 schools built in a experimental structural manner using modular systems (Marks, 2009).

The space was organized as single storey pavilions of open space, subdivided by sliding elements. These schools based on earlier British examples were artificially lit and ventilated (Educational Facilities Laboratories, 1967). Despite that the buildings allowed for transformable spaces for small and large group instruction, they turned out to be acoustically problematic, moreover, the main problem being the lack of training for teachers in how to use the newly offered freedom and lack of involvement of the staff in planning processes (Blyth,2011). This exemplifies the need for collaboration between architects, teachers, policy makers and executers. It should be marked that technological advancements in for example, acoustically satisfying movable walls or concertina doors, allow to partially implement these mid century ideas in a new quality.

been done proving the value of these reformers’ basic ideas13. The findings praise the previously mentioned self-directed learning, project work organization, dividing the class unit into subgroups, creating new forms of learning partnerships with mixed ages, learning across disciplines, and opening up the school to the network of learning that surrounds it physically and virtually.

The following section introduces selected reference schools, that illustrate many ideas discussed and have enabled to conclude this part with a personal design strategy for the new building.

Alternative education methods

In the 20th century alternative methods to the traditional – strictly instruction-based education have been developed and are offering parallel paths to the orthodox ways of teaching. Pedagogies of Montessori, Steiner, Reggio Emilia, Margaret Mc Millan or Prestolee School in Lancashire or methods of Célestin Freinet, just to name some, have inspired and made an impact to both - the methods of teaching and their spatial ramifications. Elements of these have been integrated in the system in, for example, Nordic countries or The Netherlands, while still remaining marginal in many, including Latvia.

Since the first attempts a lot of research in environmental psychology has 12 Hertzberger, Herman. Space and Learning. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2008, p. 20.

13 Kuhn, Christian. op.cit., p. 21

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Direct methods for research - Conversations with experts in education and school visits

In addition to using literary and web-sources to understand the happenings within a school’s environment I have been visiting schools in Latvia, Finland and Denmark and had valuable conversations with educationalists. They put emphasis on the most relevant aspects of holistic education and shared their aspirations of future learning environments.

Jānis Vītols Expert in alternative education and personal development Co-founder of union ‘Tava skola’ - ‘Your school‘ Jānis shared a wide vision of how a holistic education should happen in Latvia’s context, pointed on reference schools and existing educational and spatial opportunities. He helped to clarify educational priorities to be supported in spaces as well as introduced me to alternative school leaders and pedagogues and joined for school visits in February, 2016.

Kristine Liberta Director of Ikšķile Free School

Evija Rudzīte Zanda Zvīgule Ikšķile Free School Ikšķile Free School Administrative Financial Director Director All three teachers guided me through the life of their school, illustrated their values about holistic learning in practice and shared visions for spatial possibilities in a school visit in February, 2016.

Lauma Priekule Primary school teacher of natural sciences in Ādaži, Latvia, participant in the ‘Mission Possible’ movement, Previous student of Shchetinin’s school, Tekos, Russia.

Lauma shared stories of her teaching methods using practical projects in natural sciences and other classes in February, 2016. She described experience of planning a ‘perfect‘ school in a study project with her pupils. She explained her vision for a student-run school where everyone is a responsible creator and described experience of such practice in Shchetinin’s school, Russia.

Dana Narviša Director of Cēsu New School Explained in detail how the school works during a visit in May, 2016, and illustrated active learning practices in real life.

Viktors Černoglazovs - Woodworking teacher in Druviena Secondary School During a tour of school’s workshop in June, 2016, Viktors explained how individualised teaching happens in wood-working class and how woodworking is used in projects related to other subjects like science and music and English language.

Ailita Jakubovska Founder of Free Māra School.

Ailita guided through life of Māra School during a visit in February, 2016, and described teaching practices in the nature and involving parents in study processes.

Silva Balode Previous Director of Tukums Live School.

Silva explained the practices of learning in the nature in the school founded by her and explained the benefits of experience-based learning in a conversation in February, 2016.

Santa Pīlāce Montessori Pedagogue.

In conversations in March, 2016, Santa explained how principles of Montessori education help to learn actively and independently, guided by inner motivation and illustrated how these principles are reflected in space.

Martiņš Kālis Previous director of Non-Governmental Organization ‘Mission Possibe‘ Mārtiņš helped to orientate in the subject of financing of education in Latvia in a conversation in July, 2016. He supported the idea of involving universities of pedagogy in a pilot school’s life and pointed on reference projects of such practice abroad.

Pauli Anttila Special Teacher in Kirkkojärvi School, Espoo.

Pauli guided me through the school explaining the educational use of facilities and pointing on successes and disadvantages of the building design in September, 2016.

Lorita Dermane Director of Kuldiga Alternative Primary School Lorita showed around the school in Kuldiga in March, 2016, and discussed the limitations for active learning in a formal and compartmentalized space that is disconnected from nature.

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Helsinki

Cēsis Rīga

Context of education in Latvia Brief introduction of the country

The Republic of Latvia was founded in 1918 on the coast of the Baltic Sea, in a territory that has been home to the Latvian language and culture for thousands of years. Latvia regained its independence after 50 years of Soviet occupation in 1991 and re-established as the continuation of the original Republic. The constitution of 1922 was restored in 1993. However, legislation and administrative bases for relevant state structures and institutions in all sectors including education were created anew. Thus, it is still seen as a new state in the context of Europe.

It has a population of 2 million. In 2004, Latvia joined the European Union and NATO and became a member of the Euro-zone in 2014. It is recently a member of OECD.

Latvia’s political, economic, and cultural center is Rīga, where more than one third of Latvia’s population lives and works. Latvia is a small, open economy that has overcome a severe recession in 2008-2009, with GDP growing again.

With over 48 percent of its territory covered by forests, a vast network of free-flowing rivers and thousands of lakes, Latvia is one of Europe’s best-preserved havens for wildlife. 14 Education

Latvia’s education excels for traditionally having one of the highest ratios of university students per capita in the world.

The state guarantees free primary (1st-6th grade) and secondary (7th12th grade) school education and offers limited scholarships for higher education.

The school system is still influenced by the heritage of the Soviet Socialist regime ruling for half of the 20th century, reflected in the formal instruction methods - primarily one sided teacher - learner relationships, that go hand in hand with conservative spatial arrangements. Spatially isolated classrooms alongside long corridors, lack of social and informal study places, distant event and social spaces and irrelevance of spaces for creative exploration are some consequences of industrial age and socialism ideologies present in the system. Even though some of the typical, 14

The Latvian Institute. Latvia in Brief. Riga: The Latvian Institute, 2014.

reproduced projects, built during 50s and 60s are serving well to locate a large number of students in a school and have good lighting and space ratio per student, these are not helping to create a community feeling and a sense of belonging to a tight collective.

However recent trends indicate demand for progress in learning practices and space as a consequence and show the beginnings of positive change from a grassroots - bottom-up and systematic - top-down perspectives.

One of the indicators of change are the parent organized schools for families who are ready to participate in the creation, running and improvement of their kids’ schools only to have the freedom to implement modern learning methods, to allow for more holistic development of the whole child’s personality.15 These schools are strongly tied to the locality while having a contemporary global vision of a child’s development in the 21st century as part of universal processes, connected to the nature and to all the members of the school. Unfortunately, most of these schools are not state funded and require a monthly payment from parents, that further increases the gap between the achievement of kids from affluent and socially disadvantaged families. The same in-accessibility applies to the majority of Steiner and Montessori education facilities.

State schools would benefit if such an exemplary personal and caring approach to each child’s well-being was transferred to the overall system, if a feeling of belonging and sharing of common aspirations and achievements was felt in every school’s life. The schools physical environment plays a large role because the common work for its improvement consolidates the community and equips with confidence and belief in one’s own and collective abilities.

Another progressive movement created by willpower of motivated individuals is the ‘Mission Possible ’ non-governmental organization, that works to attract best university graduates of various fields to work as teachers and bring positive change to classrooms, schools and society.

It has gained popularity amongst young leaders and further rises awareness for contemporary methods in education.16 There is a clear link to 15 Narviša Dana, director of Cēsu Jaunā Skola, Conversation during group visit to the school in Cēsis, 29th of May, 2016 16 Iespējamā Misija. Par mums. 2016. http://www.iespejamamisija.lv/parmums/#mesticam (Accessed on 14th of October, 2016)

architectural space, because these new forward looking pedagogues, who often receive their university education abroad, would be motivated to use space as the third teacher, taking advantage of new, flexible ways of teaching. 17

Finally, the latest news of revolutionary change in the whole organization and methods of teaching and learning in all Latvia’s state schools have reached the wider society this autumn, 2016. Education Ministry has planned a comprehensive shift to learning based in competences - collaborative projects and investigative, practical work to acquire and utilise information. The ministry has planned to use 14 million euros from EU Social Fund to implement the all-encompassing changes, including training for teachers, publishing of study resources and giving guidelines to school administrative leaders. This of course will totally change the societies view on what can be done in a school building and will raise the need to adapt space to much more active modes of learning.18

Statistics show an increasing gap in knowledge between countryside and city pupils.19 This calls for investment in innovation and education quality located outside the capital city - Riga. The Vidzeme region cultural and recreational center - Cēsis offers a good setting between rural and urban environments to create a contemporary example for systematic change described in the next paragraph.

17 Kālis Mārtiņš, previous director of ‘Mission Possibe’, informal conversation, Riga, July 2016 18 Beginning of one of the greatest changes in education of all times, video story, Latvian Television ‘De Facto’ analytic programme, Riga, 25th of September, 2016.

19 Re: Baltica. Conclusions. Why is there a rapid segregation of city and rural schools in Latvia? Re: Baltica.Baltic center of Investigative Journalism, 2015. http://www. rebaltica.lv/lv/petijumi/nevienlidziga_izglitiba/a/1264/secinajumi__kadel_latvija_notiek_ tik_strauja_skolu_noslanosanas.html (Accessed on 14th of October, 2016)

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Vision of a new experimental school

Many actors will be involved in the radical shift from teacher-directed to student-directed learning processes in Latvia in the course of the coming 5 to 10 years. Wide set of knowledge and skills will be required from all parties, above all - the teachers and school leaders, to implement the change to its full potential. The current educators have been studying and practicing in the traditional, old ways. Therefore, any new building commissioned, just like the one in Cēsis, can be seen as an opportunity - a testing ground of new practices, a tool of professional learning for young and experienced teachers. Consequently, this thesis project suggests involving universities of pedagogy in the running and use of the new experimental school. This should be a place where modern pedagogical ideas can be practiced and developed to further distribute around the country.

After having been practicing teaching in such a school the young and experienced pedagogues will see flexible and supportive space as a natural component in fulfilling learning goals. These educationalists will be aware of new spatial opportunities and when leaving to other regions of Latvia, will be bringing the vision of ‘space - pedagogy’ partnership with them. Any new school or a renovation of an existing one should be briefed with wide spatial opportunities in mind. Then, situations will be avoided where architects design and investment goes to new buildings suited to the practices of previous millennium.

Likewise, it is suitable that when new schools are built in the spirit of the current age, teachers are used to using them and do not fall back to old ways of doing due to lack of training.

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In times or radical systematic change any new building can be seen as an opportunity - a testing ground of new practices, a tool of professional learning for young and experienced teachers.

Involved beneficiaries

The vision of a new pilot school building in Cēsis suggests cooperation between state, municipality and universities of pedagogy. No doubt it will also involve cooperating with the students and parents participating with an open attitude to learning.

The state is interested in implementing quality change to the whole countries’ system, the municipality gains an opportunity to attract new young families to the region outside Riga. Universities, in turn, can use the opportunity to test global research in a local context. If a school’s vision and actions are tied to academic research in universities or is linked in other ways to current relevant research in the field, then it is more realistic to attract funding from external sources

The theme of learning through modern methods supported by flexible space is in tune with international research and advising actors and policy makers such as UNESCO and OECD, European Commission and European Educational Research Association, World Educational Research Association and European Early Childhood association. Therefore it might be achievable to attract partial external funding to such a project.

Reference projects To identify what are the exact learning practices that need to be supported in a new construction, I have further described 12 reference school projects that employ a variety of learning practices that have found the appropriate spatial support or are still open to suggestions from architects of their spatial implications.

These are schools I have personally visited (6 out of 12) or done a deepened research of their qualities. These are followed by a list of educationalists that I have had conversations with to help understand the processes in school buildings and a brief story of my own route in the field of education.

Fig 1

Ikskile Free School Ikskile, Latvia

Fig 3

Mikhail Petrovich Shchetinin’s Lycee School

Fig 5

Hellerup school

Copenhagen, Denmark

Tekos, Russia

Fig 2

Cesu New School Cesis, Latvia

Fig 4

Prestolee Primary School Lancashire, England

Fig 7

Jätkäsaaren koulu competition Helsinki, Finland

Fig 6

Appolo Schools Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Fig 8

Fuji Kindergarten Tokyo, Japan

Fig 9

Kingoskolen Slangerup, Denmark

Fig 10

Opinmäki koulu Espoo, Finland

Fig 11

Sakarinmäen peruskoulu Helsinki, Finland

Fig 12

Kirkkojarvi koulu Espoo, Finland

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Ikskile Free School

Ikskile, Latvia l Founded 2010

Ikšķiles Free School was founded with the initiative of a few motivated parents in a former school building of beginning of 20th century.20 It has been the only lucky parent organized school to receive full municipal funding. Its attractiveness, charm and atmosphere of happiness and fee will is based on the tight community based in shared values. The building and its surroundings have been renovated by workforce of parents and kids and resources from sponsors. Pupils are allowed here to develop the whole of their personalities, that involves a balance between physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual development. The people of this school achieve this by: - living close to nature where work, play and study happens in team spirit - studying in mixed age groups, supporting each other in all endeavours - gathering to cherish Latvian Traditions of music , crafts, dance and taking care of land, ect.

- by involving the whole family in study processes - by taking charge of facilities - eco-store, permaculture garden, music museum, pop-up restaurants.

Direct source of information : School visit and conversations with co-founders

1.4 Lessons outside 1.2 Traditional handicraft

1.1 Parent renovated building

1.3 Common celebration

1.5 Permaculture growing own food

1.6 Work outside

Cesu New School

Cesis, Latvia l Founded 2013

This is another school where common endeavours in creating the school itself and its environment is forming large part of the pedagogy. Things happen here as in real life involving many disciplines in realizing a project - pupils take charge of their learning by developing an interest, gathering knowledge on a subject, applying the knowledge in further exploration and experiments. This is followed by planning and creation of a new outcome and its evaluation. They learn to think critically and ask questions through real experiences that belong to them for the rest of life. No waiting behind the desk while the teacher talks, these people find knowledge they need themselves guided by a more experienced learner - the teacher.

The study practices are based on belief that initially every kid is curious and eager to create. The adults need to provide field where creation can happen, equip this place with opportunities (like experimentariums, workshops, gardens, spacious rooms, kitchens) and give guidance and safety on the way.

Direct source of information : School visit and conversation with co-founder and director, teacher Dana Narviša, who is one of 50 nominees for the prestigious Global Teacher Prize 2016, due to her team’s achievements in this school.21

20 Ikšķiles Brīvā Skola. http://www.brivaskola.lv/ (Accessed on 15th of October, 2016).

21 Cesu Jauna Skola. http://cesis.jaunaskola.lv/musu-direktore-starp-pasaules-top50-labakajiem-skolotajiem/ (Accessed on 15th of October, 2016).

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2.2

2.1 Teacher in one of the learning team

2.3

2.4

2.5 Dana Narvisa

2.6 Parent renovated old school building

Mikhail Petrovich Shchetinin’s Lycee School

Tekos, Russia

3.4 Students built school

3.5 Students built wall

3.6 Growing own food

3.6 Everyone is a student and a teacher

3 .1 Location in Tekos, Russia

3.2 Learning outside

3.2 Dancing lessons everyday

4.4 Informal, active lessons

4.2 Gymnastics installations

This school located in forest near to a small village Tekos in Southern Russia, is a place where each person is simultaneously a teacher and a learner. The pupils here come from various parts of Russia and abroad and live side by side , thus developing a solidarity that allow everyone to achieve great academic results. Many cover the full high-school curriculum until they are 14 or 12 and acquire a bachelors and masters university degree by time they are 17. This is possible because all subjects are seen as pieces of the whole, as well as encompassing the whole in themselves. Students can start to learn a subject they are most interested in and continue it until it is fully understood in the level on school or university curriculum. If something is unclear they do their best to explain the topic to each other, so no person is left behind. They spend a lot of time in the nature every day and see it as the greatest teacher. 22After gaining an understanding of universal laws, it is no problem to answer any specific question in an exam, for example.

The school has been fully designed, built and decorated with art pieces by students themselves. They also run the school and plan their studies themselves and even write text books for school curriculum to help others learn understand the nature of things more easily.

Each person is a value here and is believed to be capable of everything, even doing dance, music, singing, manufacturing own costumes for performances and growing own food. Here students are not prepared for social roles in society, they are already living the life to the fullest at the current moment. 23

Direct source of information : Stories of Shchetinin’s school’s student Lauma Priekule, who is currently a primary school teacher or natural sciences in Latvia, participant in the ‘Mission Possibe’ movement.

Prestolee Primary School

Lancashire, England l Between 1918 and 1953 l

The headmaster of Prestolee school during the above mentioned years was E. F. O’Neill, who created a radical pedagogy for that time in England of ‘learning by doing’.24 He saw children as independent researchers and creators who were allowed to follow their intrinsic curiosity and urge to create to form their own curriculum.

The school was started with a very modest environment, to which O’Neil brought some woodworking tools. The students initiated building of objects of all sorts that were used in the school. They built their own workshop, furnished all classrooms with stools and shelves, equipped with spoons, plates and self-made scales, gymnastics installations in the courtyard and even a wind-mill. One interesting activity led kids to get interested in another.

Pupils were taught to read and write when they showed interest, because otherwise learning an exciting new skill would not be possible.25

Architecturally the main implication of the school processes was a multi-use assembly hall where students built and equipped areas for various activities like reading, wood-working, playing music ect. The teacher only had to teach a skill to a small group and soon it had spread across many as the pupils instructed each other, probably because everyone could use the necessary areas informally. The space developed incrementally following the needs of the collective. School day extended till late at night with many club activities happening and opportunity to do homework here in a relaxed manner. Needless to say that boundary of indoors and outdoors had erased as pupils just acted according to the needs of their activity.

22 Megre, Vladimirs. Skanosais Ciedrs. Rīga: Izdevniecība Vieda, 1999.

23 Conversations with Lauma Priekume,Shchetinin’s school’s student, primary school teacher of natural sciences in

4.1 Students building their facilities

4.3 Informal, active lessons

4.5 Gymnastics installations

Latvia, Ādažu Highschool, participant in the ‘Mission Possibe’ movement.

24 Dudek, Mark. A Design Manual. Schools and Kindrergartens. Berlin: Birkhauser, 2007., p.10 25 Holmes, Gerard. The Idiot Teacher. A Book about Prestolee School and its Headmaster E. F. O’Neill. London: Faber and Faber Limited, 1952.

17

Hellerup school

Copenhagen, Denmark

Arkitema Architects

This school has been designed as learning landscape where the classroom is almost fully dissolved. Each group of students occupy a home area that is spatially marked with furniture and small meeting rooms as well as toilet blocks, stairwells and rooms for teachers. The groups use meeting rooms for briefing and then engage in various activities around the school individually or within groups.. The middle of the building, lit by skylights is designed as series of wide stairs going in opposite directions, This multi-purpose area is used for whole school gatherings, performances, including events with families.26 Speciality subject areas, including ICT facilities are easily accessible from main hall. The initial design suggested full openness of home areas, however at the time of my visit in May, 2016, some glazed partitions had appeared for acoustic separation. It should be noted that due to the depth of home areas these are partly quite dark.

Direct source: Visit to the building

5.3 learning landscape

5.1 Ground Floorplan

5.2 learning landscape

5.4 learning landscape

Appolo Schools

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Herman Hertzberger Architects

Apollo schools are two buildings of almost identical design where classrooms are arranged around a central light-filled atrium. The split level sectional arrangement creates interesting views across the hall. This space really feels like an extended classroom due to the darker nooks for small group studies and many ways to appropriate the stars and galleries. The classrooms are equally adapted to work in teams or alone in articulated spaces. Such a compactness is an advantage at the start of a school’s life to create a tight community, however, according to the architect, limits development due to lack of extendibility. One might look for solutions where a home-like scale is balanced with increasing spatial requirements for speciality and service functions and allows for long term flexibility.

26 Hertzberger, Herman. Space and Learning. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2008, p.61

18

6.1 Section and floorplan

6.2 learning landscape

6.3 Spaces outside classroom

5.5 Main hall for public performance and dining

Jätkäsaari primary schools,

Helsinki l Aarti Ollila Ristola Arkkitehdit

7.4 Section

7.2 Main hall

7.3 Image of a home area

7.1 Organization diagram

This winning proposal of the design competition addressed the requirements of the brief with simplicity. It offers replacement of corridors27 with galleries that can also be used for study with an overview of the heart of the building. For an urban site it is appropriate a tall solution, that enables all home areas equal connectedness to the main high space, without being disturbed by each other. A successful solution for home areas is a choice between variety of spaces, both - with static and manipulable enclosures. It might turn out that some of the open cluster areas will eventually be enclosed to offer visual, instead of acoustic connections to main hall.

Currently the part of each home area that is a walk-through zone is proportionately large, leaving less space for activities with concentration.

7.5 Ground Floorplan

Fuji Kindergarten Tokyo, Japan

Another option for a uniting central place is offered with an elliptical one story enclosing volume of a courtyard where the boundary to the exterior is dissolved. The geometry suggests movement, that keep the kids active outdoors. An urban site dictates an inwards looking building, that in more rural situation could also look outwards.

An exciting aspect of the elliptical organization is that it is encouraging to visit the neighbours, thus mixing the age groups, provided that areas are kept open. Collaborative teachers in this place are probably not surprised by a sudden visitor from a college’s group joining in. In a similar spatial situation in a school free access of a neighbouring area also encourages multi-disciplinary learning.

8.3 A real photo

8.1 Ground floorplan

27 Finnish Association of Architects, Mukala Jorma(eds.). Jätkäsaari primary schools, Helsinki. Architectural Competitions in Finland, ARK 1 (2016): 1-9.

8.2

8.4

8.5 Smooth transition between group areas

19

Kingoskolen Slangerup, Denmark This school is organized in a campus-like manner around an artificial lake, surrounded by speciality subject areas and the library. Glazed galleries with planting are used for circulation and face the lake. The unity aspect in space has a specific atmosphere and organization - students meet or see each other in a distance when involved in investigative studies in experimentariums around the lake, that is the heart of the complex. A gathering hall is placed distantly and needs to be reached by going outside.

The same applies for the home clusters - these are placed in pairs in a distance from the lake. The successful part of these separate buildings is the clearness of how a cluster is perceived as a separate house, however, weak connection to the whole, might limit the opportunities of building a tight school community.

Spatially the vertical connections within building volumes create a variety of atmospheres and a lot of great small study places are created on the bridges and balconies in double height spaces.28 9.1 Site plan with home bases in distance from centre

9.2 Lake as heart of the buildings

9.3 Study balconies

Opinmäki koulu

Espoo, Finland This large school from 1st to 9th grade and kindergarten hosts around 600 children, thus it is divided into age groups volumetrically with the smaller group of volumes serving the youngest preschoolers, the medium sized volumes hosting primary school and the bigger volumes hosting the secondary school grades and gym.

The arrangement of primary school classrooms in clusters works with three enclosed classrooms in naturally lit corners, while the darker corner serves for toilets and the rest of free space is planned as common informal study places, for group discussions and play. While the unity of groups in one cluster is apparent, there is little spatial interaction between all four primary school clusters located in two floors and only sharing an entrance lobby with a cloakroom.

Furthermore, The whole school meets in an irregularly shaped dining hall, that gets tight when used by all and very loud due to dominance of concrete finishes.

Direct source: Visit to the building with a guided tour.

10.4 10.5 Main hall with dining and stage 10.2 Classroom

10.1 Primary school home area organization

28 JĂŚrvang, Ulla. Power of Aesthetics to Improve Student Learning. Design Share, Designing for the Future of Learning. 21st of November,2006. http://www.designshare.com/ index.php/articles/aesthetics-and-learning/ (Accessed 15/10/2016).

20

10.3 Common room next to classroom

Sakarinmäen peruskoulu

Helsinki, Finland Completed 2005, extended 2014.

Around 550 pupils 350 pupils before extension, 5 700 m2

11.7 No shared space next to classroom in 2005 construction 12.2 School in distance

11.1 School in distance

The working title of this building used by the architect and clients is the ‘barn village’ due to the gathering of wood-clad volumes, all painted in traditional colours or resembling untreated grey timber. 29 Two of these are occupied by Finnish and Swedish primary schools, other three are for a workshop and other specialised learning spaces, staff area and kitchen and a gym. An extension is located higher on the hillside and houses the older children till grade 9. The school’s unity is enabled by the dining hall placed where all these volumes meet. It has been treated as an in-between-barn space of an irregular shape.

It is interesting that within the separate school volumes built in 2005 there is no spatial connectedness between floors other than a stair and no collective room for group discussions and breaks. Thus, the unity of a group of classrooms is not really felt. However, the extensions built in 2014 features spacious corridors where widenings function as informal study and meeting spaces.

Spaces in-between solid volumes are used to directly connect to the surrounding landscape and are special natural micro-environments between two facades.

Direct source: Visit to the building with a guided tour

11.3 Entrance

11.4 Main hall

11.5 Main hall

11.6 One common room in 2014 extension

11.8 Site plan with extensions

Kirkkojärven koulu

Espoo, Finland

770 pupils, 10 150m2

12.1 Dining/Main hall

12.3 Main Entrance

12.5 Entry level plan

This school is organized in two main parts - ‘the Big Brother and Small Brother‘ whose inhabitants reflect the name of building volumes. The two smaller wings - out of four - are home to preschoolers (5-6 years) and primary school children where mixed age strategy is used to get the youngest used to school atmosphere by learning from the older ones. The ‘small brother‘ has access to an outside hill just on their doorstep so the threshold between the interior and exterior is crossed countless times a day through a common exit in each wing. Each of the wings - clusters of classrooms - also share an informal study lobby with wet facilities.

The older youngsters, located in one of ‘Big Brother’s’ wings benefit from a closer distance to the three storey high heart of school - the dining and events space with a stage. Two storey volume for secondary school has a common area, including double height student hub, and informal study areas shared by 4 big or 7 smaller classrooms.

Direct source: Visit to the building with a guided tour

12.2 Entrance foyer

12.4 Primary school yard

12.6 Dining/Main hall

29 Museum of Finnish Architecture, Jetsonen,Sirkkaliisa, Johansson, Erika, Nuikinen, Kaisa and Sahlberg Pasi. The Best School in The World. Helsinki: Art Print Oy, 2011, p.48.

21

Building an inclusive strong school community

Parents learning with children

Creating a smaller unity within ‘home‘ areas

Teachers cooperating to join or subdivide class groups

Learning as teams

Encouraging of individual decision-making

Working in mixed age groups Conclusions and design task

In the first part of this thesis project we have seen an introduction to what is required from educational systems in today’s rapidly changing world. It has been clarified that the conservative systems of passive learning thought transmission of theoretical information does not any more reflect the needs of learners. Instead active, experience based practices are implemented worldwide, with Latvia’s educational scene gradually moving with this change.

The aim of research through readings, looking at the historical context and current case studies of progressive schools has been to identify the relevant practices of contemporary and future education that need to be supported in space. My own experience of having studied in various environments in Latvia, Newcastle, United Kingdom, Finland and Delft, The Netherlands is the background to form an argumented opinion. What’s more, conversations with educational experts in Latvia and Finland have been a great guidance in which particular practices kept reoccurring and were clarified.

The 9 educational practices recognized as central to allow for an all-rounded development of a child are: - Building an inclusive strong school community - Creating a smaller unity within ‘home‘ areas - Teachers cooperating to join or subdivide class groups - Learning as teams - Encouraging of individual decision-making - Learning by doing through multidisciplinary projects - Working in mixed age groups - Parents learning with children - Learning in nature

The aim of a new building design is to offer ways to support these practices in space as well as allow them to develop over time.

Considering that we live in times of fast development, the building’s physical structure and organization should be flexible for change.

22

Learning by doing through multidisciplinary projects

The term ‘flexibility‘ in architecture is covering quite a wide array of situations and themes and should be narrowed down to be clear. In this project I am focussing on long term physical flexibility illustrating:

1 - how the organisational principle of ‘served and servant’ areas can create clear, unobstructed zones suitable for many purposes next to zones with wet facilities, vertical circulations ect.

2 - How a reoccurring structural solution for these ‘served‘ unobstructed zones can host different functions for learning.

3 - How can a building be organized on site to allow horizontal extendibility while maintaining its integrity and the sense of whole.

These can be seen as solutions enabling the future functioning of a building even if it needs change.

However, in this project another type of flexibility will occur as a subtheme in a direct relation to the learning practices. The first five practices listed require from a building that if offers a variety of spaces on the line between unity (togetherness) and seclusion (self reflection).

The No1 practice - ‘Building an inclusive strong school community‘ requires a space where all members of school including families, staff and pupils can gather for celebrations, concerts, ect. It is a wide network of people that the kids will have the opportunity to know and belong to.

One the other end of the line is practice NO.5 - Encouraging of individual decisions, planning, critical thinking and looking inside oneself to feel an inner motivation for actions. It requires a place to be alone, a dark nook, a gallery looking on others from above or a silent space with a far view over the landscape.

Nevertheless, the more colourful variations happen in the middle between the two. No.2 - Creating a smaller unity within ‘home‘ areas asks to design a cluster of classrooms that allows to share some facilities amongst a number of class groups, so that meetings would be generated.

There should also be a visual clarity to red the cluster as a volume. Thus the kids will have a between 60-80 people that they will know best.

Practice Nr. 3 - teachers cooperating to join or subdivide class groups - means that the walls between two classroom scan open to hold a lesson together. Alternatively, when subdividing a class, part of it should

Learning in the nature

be able to go elsewhere in school, ex. steps in the main hall, cluster common room or area between clusters. Similarly, practice No.4 - Learning as teams - means that a group of people can find a suitable spot for the common activity, be it a discussion, research, messy creation work or a presentation.

Keeping in mind the named learning practices, the need for flexibility and need for choice between seclusion and togetherness, the next part of this thesis proposes a design that satisfies these demands.

23

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24

Experimental pilot school location and design

Cēsis

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Vidzeme Region

Cēsis - developing city for families

Statistics show an increasing gap in knowledge between countryside and city pupils. This calls for investment in innovation and education quality located outside the capital city - Riga.30 The Vidzeme region cultural and recreational center - Cēsis offers a good setting between rural and urban environments to create a contemporary example for systematic change.

Cēsis, Located 100 km outside the capital city Riga, is known as a welcoming city for families. In recent years it has seen a trend of young people moving to Cēsis from Riga and returning from economic emigration after economic crisis, while other regional cities face an opposite trend.31

It has become an attraction for people of creative professions, therefore the municipality would benefit from an innovative education facility that gives reason for forward looking families to follow the trend.

The city has already seen a forming of an alternative parent organized school, that attracts families from the nearby cities and Riga, regardless of being a private school with a tuition fee. It shows the great demand for alternative options in education in this creative, active and out-of-box thinking community.

The site for a new building has been planned for the purpose of young children’s education in municipality development plans and was suggested to me by the municipality architect’s office.

Cēsis is located in the middle of River Gauja National Park and 30 Re: Baltica. Conclusions. Why is there a rapid segregation of city and rural schools in Latvia? Re: Baltica. Baltic center of Investigative Journalism, 2015. http://www.rebaltica. lv/lv/petijumi/nevienlidziga_izglitiba/a/1264/secinajumi__kadel_latvija_notiek_tik_ strauja_skolu_noslanosanas.html (Accessed on 14th of October, 2016) 31 Lūsis, Ojārs. Janis Rozembergs: Cesis becoming an excellent place for life. Independent Morning Magazine, 27th of April 2015, p.7.

has celebrated 810 years of settlement. The city excels with it’s natural beauty, unique historic sites, saturated cultural life that attracts guests from all over the country and abroad. A forward looking, supportive municipal government supports small businesses with grants, attracts large investors and works to enlarge the housing stock for new residents.

Cēsis has prospering hospitality businesses, due to the newly built regional concert hall, numerous art festivals and many historic and natural sites attracting visitors. The production industry in and around Cēsis include large and small food producers,32 wood processing and wood product production for local and export markets.33

The two following pages illustrate selected highlights in fields of Nature, History, Arts, Business and Family Life in the city and shows building site location.

Helsinki

Cēsis Rīga

32 Cēsis Municipality. http://www.cesis.lv/lv/uznemejdarbiba/razots-cesu-novada (Accessed 16th of October, 2016) 33 “Staļi” Ltd - a leading manufacturer of wooden doors and windows in Northern Europe. http://www.stali.lv/lv/ (Accessed 16th of October, 2016)

25

A

City for families

Fig 27

I

Fig 13 Proximity of River Gauja

Fig 14 Natural monuments in Gauja National Park

Fig 15 Cēsis Mideval Castle

E

C

B

Fig 28 Cēsu music school

J,K

Fig 17 Cēsis Art Festival

D

Fig 29 Children’s Science Centre “Ziino” Fig 16 Building by students

Fig 18 Artist Residency “Rucka Manor”

Fig 19 Reuse of old factory buildings for art

L

Fig 20 Cēsis New Concert Hall

City for Nature, History and The Arts The Arts

City for Business H

F

Fig 30 Cēsu new schools

Fig 22

Fig 23

G

Fig 21 Cēsis beer factory

26

Fig 24 City mayor Jānis Rozenbergs

Fig 25 Ski desert “Jagarkalus”

Fig 26 One of many hospitality businesses

Fig 31 Cēsis - Place for healthy life style

F

C

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J

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Highlights for families and children Highlights of industry and business Highlights of arts and culture Business and commercial zones Zone of history, culture and art

Site for the pilot school

27

Area devoted in city development plan for public use and recommended by city architect office for primary school building design

Site location The site, suggested by the city architect, for this school project is part of CÄ“su City Nature and Culture-historical Park territory. It is marked in the Municipal Area Plan as devoted to public use. The municipality already plans this for education because of the proximity of detached residential and multi-story residential areas and because resources like a planned stadium and existing sports hall in neighbouring high-school can be shared between schools. It suits the aim to locate this school in the nature to enable learning in and with it every day.

28

stiga

Existing special care boarding school

Planned stadium shared between schools

Site for the proposed primary school

Existing high-school with shared sports hall

29

Building Design

Community spirit formed in a central multi-purpose hall surrounded by units of home areas with classrooms and speciality subject areas.

View from road coming from city centre

Building connected to the town by curved access route that leads one inside, around main hall and further outside in South-facing courtyard towards forest.

Home areas with 4 classrooms each located to the East, in complience with national building regulations.

Special areas, ex. library, canteen and Kindergarten, located to the West to fit for pupil and community use in afternoons and evenings.

View towards site from East

Far view towards North 30

Far view provided from the main hall over a picturesque hillside to the north

View towards West

Siteplan Scale 1:1000

31

View from the West

Placement of functions

32

Physical flexibility to enable change of practices in the future

Principle of service and served areas

Extendibility

This principle enables the cluster volumes to be kept clear and used for various purposes. Large span keeps ground floor clear from columns.

Thus, home bases and Speciality areas can be switched places or partitions changed.

Large extensions in-bedded in the building organization on site Up to three clusters can be added to enlarge towards forest (young children suggested) or towards town (older children suggested)

Reference projects

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33

B

D

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+81.000

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+84.000

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A

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D

34

+79.000

nity in central hall togeatherness or seclusion

B

D

+80.000

A

+77.000

+81.000

-4.100

C

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+79.000

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-3.600

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-5.000

81.000

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C

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B

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35

D

B

B

B A

Kindergarden towards forest with South facing yard Balance of sepparation and inclusion

C

2.500

0

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B

B

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B

2.500

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0

C

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36

Scale 1:400

B

B

A

Plan Level 1

Plan Level 2 Scale 1:400

Approach from town

View from entrance lobby

37

1. Building an inclusive strong school community 2.Parents learning with children

Inviting access from town direction helps a school become a popular and open facility in the town.

The main hall of the building ensures that there is a space large enough to geather all students, staff and their parents.

38

View of main hall towards home areas.

Students can use stairs for study at the fron of their home areas as well as create space within rotating inhabitable walls.

View of main hall with cutains down More privacy and less distraction is offered when thick curtains roll down from space behind the ceiling plane

10.500

7.000

3.600

Âą0.000

3.600

Âą0.000

-4.500

Section AA. Scale 1:250 39

3. Creating a smaller unity within ‘home‘ areas

Each volume of home area offers choice from togetherness to seclussion because it contains a common area, that also opens to main hall, four classrooms and an individual silent area at the top.

Common room can be used during class for part of students and perhaps teacher assistant working outside classroom

Classrooms

11.000

7.600 7.000

4.300 3.600

2.500

±0.000

±0.000 -0.500

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Section CC. Scale 1:250 40

Individual area on top

Perspective section through a home unit - classrooms in two stories, an individual area at the top, common room with rotating walls, learning gallery and steps towards main hall.

41

4. Teachers cooperating to join or subdivide class groups

Adjacent classrooms joined

Four sepparate classrooms for 25 people or less

Whole ground floor joined as single space

Plan of home areas Level 0 Scale 1:200

Plan of home areas Level -1 Scale 1:200

-4.100 -4.100

CC ± 0.000 ± 0.000

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E

E OPEN OFFIC ERS' OFFIC TEACH TEACHERS' OPEN

-4.500 -4.500

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42

5. Learning as teams

Spaces for informal work in groups are available in main hall, around it on galleries, as well as in peripheries between building’s volumes and inside home areas

6. Encouraging of individual decision-making

In addition to open spaces for working individually, that are distributed around the school, there are two special silent areas on top of the cluster and on top of library tower in the silent hall

View from top floor learnin gallery. A space to feel connected and concentrated and distant at the same time 43

18.800

11.200

7.400

4.100

±0.000 -0.500

Section BB. Scale 1:250 44

7. Working in mixed age groups

3rd and 4th grades

1st and 2nd grades

8.Learning by doing through multidisciplinary projects

5th and 6th grades

Speciality learning areas are in close proximity to one another and share spaces in-between, thus, promoting interdisciplinary learning and seeing artistic and technical subjects as parts of a bigger whole.

Home areas sharing facilities

7.000

Home areas sharing teachers’ room and nature class

There are mixed age groups studying in the same home areas as well as students mixing in the common space between volumes

The high experimentarium spaces for active creation in front of special areas and home clusters represent the area and are visible for by-passers.

Âą0.000

-4.500

45

9. Learning in the nature

Siting of the building creates inhabitable spaces on all sunny sides. Besides two main exits, some of the in-between - volumes gaps provide exit to outside with shoe a clothes storages , others have nature classes that open fully to act as in-between inside and outside space.

View from main hall to far hillside is another way to always feel connected with natural surroundings.

10.500

6.500 5.600 4.600 3.600

Âą0.000

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Section DD. Scale 1:400 46

The surface material of “solid“ volumes are wooden lats for the interior and exterior surfaces where fire safety restrictions for emergency exits do not apply. The surfaces in the fire exit zones are finished with a light grey render.

Light grey painted wooden lats cover some of the windows on the elevations to maintain the volumes simple and readable as solids. Each classroom, however, has a large clear window and additional one covered with the wooden lats, but still giving view and light.

19.000

10.500

7.000

4.200

3.600

±0.000

±0.000

South Elevation Scale 1:400

10.500

7.000

3.600

±0.000

±0.000

-4.500

West Elevation Scale 1:400 47

19.000

10.500

7.000

3.600

±0.000

±0.000

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East Elevation Scale 1:400

7.800 7.000

2.500

±0.000

±0.000

-3.600 -4.500 -4.100

North Elevation Scale 1:400

48

49

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Atkin, Julia. How Students Learn: A Framework for Effective Teaching: Part 2, conditions which enhance and maximise learning, Seminar Series No. 34, IARTV, Melbourne, www.cse.edu.au/; www.learning-by-design.com, 1994.

Atkin, Julia. Transforming spaces for learning. In Designing for Education, Compendium of Exemplary Educational Facilities, OECD Centre fo Effective Learning Environments, 13-18, OECD Publishing, 2011.

Barinova, Viktorija. Forest School, Latvijas Arhitektūra, LA 91, (2010):

Hertzberger, Herman. The Schools of Herman Hertzberger, Alle Scholen. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2009.

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rural schools in Latvia? Re: Baltica.Baltic center of Investigative Jour-

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List of Illustrations Fig 1, Fig 1.1-1.6

http://www.brivaskola.lv/galerijas/foto_galerijas/2015_2016/razas_vaksa

na/10292

https://www.facebook.com/JaunaSkola

Fig 2, Fig 2.1

Fig 2.2, Fig 30

attels ar jaunajam telpaam

https://www.facebook.com/JaunaSkola/photos/ms.c.eJxl0EsKwEAIA9AbFeNoHO9~;sUI3h

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Fig 2.3, 2.4, 2.6, 31

https://www.facebook.com/JaunaSkola/photos/

pcb.10150680402024996/10150680396129996/?type=3&theater

Fig 2.5

http://cesis.jaunaskola.lv/musu-direktore-starp-pasaules-top50-labakajiem-skolotajiem/

Fig 3, Fig 3.1-3.7

Fig 19

makslas fest http://www.fotoblog.lv/rep/30762/?cid=6129

Fig 20

http://www.delfi.lv/kultura/news/culturenvironment/iepazisties-vidzemes-koncertzale-ce-

sis.d?id=44608782 Fig 21

http://www.laikmetazimes.lv/2015/06/22/alutini-vecais-brali-1-dala/

Fig 22

http://www.la.lv/vajadzigs-galdnieks-kur-meklet-isto-2/

Fig 23

http://www.venden.lv/venden/process/

Fig 24, Fig 27

http://nra.lv/latvija/regionos/156419-cesis-radoss-gars-un-ekonomikas-kapums.htm

Fig 25

http://www.entergauja.com/lv/ko-darit/enter-ziema/sleposanas-baze-zagarkalns

Fig 26

https://www.tripadvisor.ie/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g274961-d547761-i33092512-Kolonna_Ho

tel_Cesis-Cesis_Vidzeme_Region.html

Fig 28

http://www.adms.lv/kokletaji.htm

Fig 29

http://www.zinoo.lv/centri/cesis/

http://loveforlife.com.au/content/08/12/31/mikhail-petrovich-shchetinin-kins-school-

lycee- school-tekos-mikhail-petrovich-shche Fig 4, Fig 4.1-4.5

http://www.thearchitectureofearlychildhood.com/2012/02/radical-experiment-in-ear

ly-1900s-that.html

Fig 5, Fig 5.1-5.5

http://www.archello.com/en/project/hellerup-school

Fig 6, Fig 6.1-6.5

http://www.ahh.nl/index.php

Fig 7, Fig 7.1-7.5

http://aor.fi/nemo

Fig 8, Fig 8.1-8.5

http://www.tezuka-arch.com/japanese/works/fuji/04.html

Fig 9, Fig 9.1-9.3

http://rubowarkitekter.dk/?projekter=kingoskolen

Fig 10, Fig 10.1-10.5

http://navi.finnisharchitecture.fi/en/opinmaki-school-and-learning-centre/

Fig 11, Fig 11.1-11.8

http://arknieminen.fi/julkiset/sakarinmaki/

Fig 12, Fig 12.1-12.6

http://verstasarkkitehdit.fi/projects/kirkkojarvi-school

Fig 13

https://www.perkamkopa.lv/lv/product/14217/1-dienas-kanoe-laivu-brauciens-pa-Gauju

Fig 14

http://www.dabasretumi.lv/Pieminekli/Atsegumi/Zvartes.htm

Fig 15

cesu pils http://www.latvia.travel/lv/raksts/diena-arpus-rigas

Fig 16

http://inhabitat.com/glowing-night-train-is-a-beacon-of-change-made-from-local-latvian-

materials/

Fig 17

http://www.arterritory.com/ru/novosti/5766-_desjatj_let_cesisskomu_festivalju_iskusstv

Fig 18

http://www.rucka.lv/rucka/ 51