Tag: school-design | ArchDaily

Pedagogy in Space: Architecture Schools' Hidden Curriculum

Jonathan Yeung — Sun, 05 Jul 2026 07:30:00 +0000

This article is part of our new Opinion section, a format for argument-driven essays on critical questions shaping our field.

How Asia Built Schools in 2025: 5 Site-Sourced Rural Projects

Moises Carrasco — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 07:30:00 +0000

In the mountainous regions of Vietnam, the borderlands of Thailand, and the rugged Western Ghats of India, building school projects remains a challenge defined by logistics. In areas where infrastructure and industrial supply chains are limited or distant, transporting each kilogram of material can significantly increase costs and logistical complexity. During 2025, several school projects in rural contexts in Asia showed how the architect's role often shifted from a designer of form to a strategist of procurement. The primary challenge was not merely aesthetic but a matter of durability: using locally available materials and protecting them from monsoon rains, high-velocity winds, and sometimes seismic instability.

Architecture and Agency: Rethinking Authorship Through Participatory Design

Jonathan Yeung — Sat, 23 Aug 2025 07:30:00 +0000

Architecture has historically produced many iconic buildings shaped by singular visions—often designed unilaterally for users, communities, and cities. While this top-down approach has enabled strong formal coherence and conceptual clarity, it has also prioritized authorship over engagement. The result: projects that may be celebrated as visionary, yet often feel disconnected from the everyday realities of those who inhabit them.

Architecture for Neurodiversity: Designing for Control, Choice, and the Senses

Ankitha Gattupalli — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 05:00:00 +0000

Publicly occupied spaces can be overwhelming. Airports, schools, stadiums, and workplaces all feature environments with visual chaos that can be disorienting and stressful for individuals, especially those who are neurodiverse. The bombardment of stimuli, unpredictable movements, and competing visual information can create barriers to occupant comfort. Architects are regularly encouraged to create spaces that recognize and honor individual differences. Designing for neurodiversity is one way of championing inclusivity and extending principles of universal design.

From Nature-Inspired Resorts to City Reconversions, Discover the Recent Work of Gensler, Foster + Partners, and More

Antonia Piñeiro — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 06:30:00 +0000

The change of the calendar year marked the culmination of several processes in the world of renowned architecture firms. Between December 2024 and February 2025, Gensler unveiled a rendering of a Manhattan redevelopment project, Foster + Partners released renderings of a new hotel and luxury residences in Brazil, and Herzog & de Meuron announced the completion date for the new Memphis Art Museum. International competitions revealed their results, highlighting the winning project of the young firm Unformed Design, as well as the collaboration between the Portuguese Fala Atelier and the Swiss Continentale on an educational architecture project. These projects showcase the broad scope of architectural design, from the detailing of a high-end project's relationship with nature to the urban renewal potential of a programmatic conversion project.

Learning Through Play: Architecture for Kids in Educational Spaces and Playgrounds

Fernanda Castro — Sat, 26 Oct 2024 07:30:00 +0000

Designing for children is certainly not child's play. While adults lead the design process, the end-users are often children, as seen in kindergartens, schools, and parks. Architects have the responsibility to create built environments that provide children with opportunities to play, explore, and learn, even in today's digital age.

CHYBIK + KRISTOF Unveils Culturally-Inspired School Design in Mulbekh, North India

Nour Fakharany — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 05:30:00 +0000

Czech-based architectural firm CHYBIK + KRISTOF has revealed its design for a new school in Mulbekh, North India, in collaboration with the Czech NGO Himalayan Patron and Spring Dales Public School. The project aims to provide quality education in the region while preserving local culture. This initiative is particularly significant as many children, especially girls, from remote ethnic minority communities, have faced limited access to education due to the area's harsh climate and challenging terrain.

An Experimental School in Switzerland and a Wood Art Center in Poland: 8 Unbuilt Cultural and Educational Projects by Established Firms

Maria-Cristina Florian — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 07:30:00 +0000

Educational and cultural centers serve as pivotal spaces where communities engage with knowledge, creativity, and shared experiences. As architectural programs, they offer unique opportunities to explore how physical environments can foster learning, cultural expression, and social interaction. The significance of these projects lies not just in their function but in how they reflect the values and aspirations of society. When established architecture firms take on these projects, their design choices become a lens through which we can examine contemporary approaches to space, place, and community, offering a glimpse into the evolving role of architecture in shaping educational and cultural landscapes.

OMA, Studio A Kwadraat, and Circlewood Win Amsterdam School Competition with Modular Wood Construction System

Maria-Cristina Florian — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 06:30:00 +0000

As part of the Schools by Circlewood consortium, OMA’s David Gianotten and Michael den Otter, together with Studio A Kwadraat, represented by Jimmy van der Aa, have won the competition to design the Wisperweide school in Weesp. This will become the first school to be built using Schools by Circlewood’s prefabricated wooden modular system, developed in collaboration with OMA. The system has earlier been chosen by the administration of Amsterdam to be employed across the city to provide flexible and sustainable elementary schools.

A Primary School in the Tuscan Countryside and a Fine Arts Academy Extension in Germany: 8 Unbuilt Educational Facilities Submitted by the ArchDaily Community

Maria-Cristina Florian — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 07:30:00 +0000

As the summer days come to an end, the focus naturally shifts to the realm of academia, a space full of curiosity, energy, and ingenuity. For architects, educational spaces are an opportunity for exploration, as they gather eager students together with professors and experts in their respective fields. The environment of educational facilities thus becomes a canvas for the cultivation of creativity, curiosity, and growth. From the playfulness of kindergartens and preschools to the halls of faculties that shape the scholars of tomorrow, the architecture of educational spaces must balance structure and flexibility to respond to the needs of students, teacher, and their larger communities.

OMA / David Gianotten and Circlewood Develop a Modular Wood System to Create Flexible Schools for the City of Amsterdam

Maria-Cristina Florian — Fri, 12 May 2023 05:30:00 +0000

As part of the Circlewood consortium, OMA’s David Gianotten and Michel den Otter have developed a modular system to build schools that can adapt and transform throughout their lifecycle. The system was selected by the City of Amsterdam to be employed to build multiple schools in the coming ten years, as part of the Innovation Partnership School Buildings program. The citywide initiative aims to build nine to thirty “high-quality, flexible, and sustainable” schools as a way to contribute to the city’s goal of becoming fully circular by 2050.

The Salone del Mobile Transforms General Layout and Presents 2023 Theme

Paula Cano — Tue, 27 Dec 2022 05:30:00 +0000

The 61st edition of The Salone del Mobile transformed its general layout and program, including Euroluce, the iconic International Lighting Exhibition in Milan. Curated by architect Beppe Finessi, in collaboration with Formafantasma and the studio Lombardini22, the new vision for The Salone del Mobile will improve accessibility and the trade fair and user experience. Running from 18th to 23rd April 2023 at Rho Fiera Milano, the 2023 Salone will focus on schools and universities under the theme "Design School."

Tutoring with Timber: Using Wood in Schools

Camila Prieto — Wed, 05 Oct 2022 06:45:00 +0000

How does school design influence the process of teaching and learning? Understanding current educational design trends and methodologies is key to designing healthy spaces for students to develop their social and academic capacities.

LINK Arkitektur Designs a Rain-Friendly School Near Gothenburg

Andreea Cutieru — Fri, 22 Oct 2021 05:30:00 +0000

LINK Arkitektur has revealed the design of a school that integrates the local climate conditions and challenges within the educational process. Located in Torslanda near Gothenburg, Sweden, where it rains every other day during the school year, the project uses water as a resource for both play and learning, taking a disruptive situation and turning it into an opportunity for understanding nature and the state of the environment.

Natural Light Enhances Progressive Learning at Hessenwald School

Rene Submissions — Wed, 15 Jul 2020 04:30:00 +0000

The entire local community, from professionals to pupils and teachers, is excited about the new Hessenwald School complex. The school accommodates 700 students from surrounding towns and villages. Despite its size, Stuttgart-based architectural firm wulf architekten successfully integrated the building with its surroundings by means of a cluster-like pavilion design. At the same time, the design translates the open pedagogical concept into a clear and contemporary architectural language. In the centre is a well-lit and well-ventilated atrium that ties the whole complex together.

The three-storey atrium links the assembly hall, break room, theatre and music room. Six VELUX Modular ‘Longlights’ provide optimal daylight conditions. The diffused, cool brightness that enters the building through the Longlights contrasts with the play of light from perforated sunscreens on the façade, creating a balanced atmosphere. This open architectural design supports an open approach to learning, with a variety of shared spaces that pupils can use independently.

"Design Should Educate and Uplift": VMDO's Rob Winstead on Social Justice and Building Sustainable Futures

Eric Baldwin — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 07:35:00 +0000

Shaping the future begins with education. For VMDO Principal Rob Winstead, learning spaces go hand in hand with sustainability. As a nationally-recognized expert in education, Winstead is an advocate for blending thoughtful design with high performance goals. In an exclusive interview with ArchDaily, Winstead talks about his personal background and experiences, as well as his role in shaping how VMDO approaches sustainability, education and social justice.

SET Architects' Climbing-Frame Inspired Sassa School Prioritizes Adaptability

Megan Schires — Sun, 27 Jan 2019 11:00:00 +0000

Ten years after a destructive earthquake rocked Italy's central Abruzzo region, many students still attend class in temporary modules similar to containers. Named winners of an international competition, SET Architects’ design for the new “Sassa School Complex” proposes reconstructing a place for students and the community to learn, gather, and grow. Inspired by the modularity and essential nature of climbing frame play structures, the architects describe the design as a metaphor for “freedom and social aggregation as a fundamental value for dynamic and innovative teaching.”

Sandy Hook School Architect Testifies in Front of Congress About School Safety

Tom Dobbins — Sat, 25 Aug 2018 08:00:00 +0000

Following up on the AIA's recent update of guidelines regarding school safety, architect Jay Brotman, designer of the new Sandy Hook Elementary School, testified in front of the US Department of Education this week to urge the government to adopt safer standards for design. While not unheard of, it is not typical for architects to stand in front of Congress.