Ana Kreč and Katarina Čakš served as guest editors of the autumn issue of Outsider magazine, shaping two closely interrelated thematic sections: Architecture of Schools - Schools of Architecture. The first examines educational spaces and their potential for renovation, adaptation, and reuse; the second considers the environments in which future architects are educated. In both, the building is more than an infrastructure for learning: its architecture shapes ways of perceiving, thinking, and acting.
Their editorial begins with the premise that school space is never neutral. “Space teaches us, unconsciously as well as consciously,” they write. School building typologies, classrooms, corridors, atriums, and outdoor spaces collectively produce a distinctive habitus that influences generations of users, often outlasting the curricula, social conditions, and pedagogical approaches that originally informed their design.
Against a backdrop of climate crisis, demographic decline, and finite resources, the emphasis increasingly shifts towards the renovation of existing buildings, adaptive and temporary reuse, and carefully considered small-scale interventions. The written contributions propose no singular model for the school of the future. Instead, they explore the possibilities between regulatory frameworks and experimentation, between existing fabric and new interventions, and between architecture and pedagogy. Schools—and schools of architecture in particular—can become laboratories for alternative spatial and pedagogical practices.
Written contributions by: Barbara Pampe (Montag Stiftung Jugend und Gesellschaft), Prof. Dr. Mia Roth Čerina (Af Zagreb), Assist. Prof. Rok Žnidaršič (UL FA), interview with Susanne Hofmann (die Baupiloten BDA) by Blaž Babnik, Assist. prof. Mitja Zorc (UL FA), Eva Gusel, Nina Dolar, Nina Karangeleska Todorovska (UACS) & Ana Kreč (UL FA), Urška Kranjc (Pazi!Park), Prof. Dr. Gregor Jurak (UL FŠ), interview with Prof. Tina Gregorič (Department of Architectural Typology and Design, TU Wien) by Aleš Gabrijelčič & Katarina Čakš, Janja Šušnjar, Bjarte Batevik (BAS), Andraž Keršič (UL FA), Ana Kreč (UL FA) and Luka Jerman.
Magazine cover: Lowie Verlinden & Alja Herlah
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