Classroom of the Future

A 14th-century fresco depicts the atmosphere in the lecture hall of the old Italian university, where the typology of the classical classroom of the past (and present) is visible.
The lecturer is placed on a pedestal, which is semantic, it emphasizes his views, there is no room for discussion. Benches and desks are fixed, students lined up without ergonomic adjustment. Some in front are listening diligently, others ignore the lecture, some for which the frontal learning process is not working, are despairing. The lecturer continues to lecturer ignoring the disinterest and frustration of students. Even in the 21st century such scenes are ever present.

This graphic shows the "classroom of the future" as it is imagined at the end of the 19th century. The problem of conceiving future learning models arises at the very core of the task. We cannot imagine the learning tools of the future since we see only those used in today’s teaching process. Therefore, the proposed solutions must be sufficiently open to enable the integration of tools completely unknown to us.

Pedagogical expert, futurist David Thornburg, suggests four archetypal learning spaces: campfire, watering hole, cave, and life.

Thornburg argues that a contemporary learning environment should include all four forms. So, instead of one idealized classroom, we proposed a matrix of diverse possibilities, which serves as a tool for a conversation between architects, educators, physician, and other stakeholders, who will be involved in the transdisciplinary design process.

FROM INDIVIDUAL TO COMMUNITY AND VICE VERSA

The 21st century school should act as a kind of permeable membrane that programmatically and infrastructurally "breathes" with the community in which it is placed. At the same time, it must be inclusive, placing pupils in its centre. They should have the opportunity to cooperate, plan, think, learn, feel good, and develop curiosity, responsibility, and independence.

The well-being of children in school has a direct impact on their results, good relationships with classmates, teachers and parents, and overall life satisfaction (OECD, 2015).
Well-designed architecture can play a vital role in all these respects as it can encourage well-being with its design.

FROM FLEXIBILITY TO POLYVALENCE

"What we build must represent an 'offer' that has the ability to provoke different reactions over and over again to suit specific situations; therefore, space must not merely be neutral and adaptable — and thus nonspecific — but must have that broader efficiency we call polyvalence" (Hertzberger in McCarter, 2015, p. 496).

Instead of flexible space, Hertzberger calls for an architecture that provides "more hospitable, inviting forms" – ones that have more meaning and inspire new programs and applications.

This mindset encouraged the creation of a wider set of evocative and polyvalent elements for spatial-pedagogical settings - a variety of campfires, watering holes and caves.

GRADUAL DISMANTLING OF THE FRONTAL CLASSROOM

German foundation Montag Stiftung Jugend und Gesellchaft argues that the trend of contemporary learning environments is developing in three spatial concepts: classroom +, clusters and learning landscape.

Regardless of which spatial concept a particular school chooses (classroom +, clusters, learning landscape or a combination of all three), we believe that a modern educational institution should integrate all four types of learning environments to the greatest extent. It is the only way to establish the relationship between the individual, home base, triad, school, community. In this way it is possible to strengthen the spatial and programmatic diversity of otherwise mundane school space.

CLASSROOM + (HOME BASE)

This is an upgrade of the classic classroom by adding a variety of learning, project, social and contemplative subspaces around its perimeter and gradually opening it towards the school playground, internal circulation areas and adjacent spaces.
The central space of the campfire is complemented by a variety of watering holes and caves.

CLUSTERS

The basic unit is no longer a single 'home base', but a cluster of these connected to smaller rooms – a teacher's room, project space, a workshop, a kitchenette, a pantry, a terrace, etc. One also finds a place to rest and specifically designed spatial elements such as grandstands. Clusters are usually connected to the multipurpose space.

LEARNING LANDSCAPE

A flexible, extremely open and polycentrically designed space with various subspaces placed among numerous 'program anchors' (atriums, gym, circulation cores, laboratories, kitchen, etc.). Among them, pupils and teachers find diverse learning and social areas – Thornburg's campfires, caves and watering holes.