The house of education

International magazine of architecture and project design may/june 2021

In the last thirty years and in particular with the turn of the millennium, our daily lives have been completely upturned by the digital revolution that has changed our lifestyles, our habits, the simplest gestures, common activities and certainly, last but not least, our educational and learning models. Likewise, a more general environmental issue has emerged, probably with culpable delay, but undoubtedly with force for over a decade now; an emergency linked not only to scientific proof, but totally tangible evidence of the influence of climate change on our lives, with the pressing need for such issues to be reflected in a new cultural awareness and therefore once again educational. Obviously, depending on the different socio-cultural and economic contexts, a long list of other urgencies could be added in relation to school buildings, ranging from seismic issues and therefore of safety, to health and hygiene, to the value of the psychophysical comfort of the inhabitants both in terms of domestic space and spaces dedicated to the lives of younger generations with their needs in terms of education. The school, understood both as a physical space, as architecture, and as a place of cultural mediation connected with the needs of future generations, is at the core of interest evidently prompted by the inadequacy of the practical and theoretical system that substantiates it. Probably and, this time, fortunately, the pandemic with its empty classrooms, with the dissolution for two consecutive years of the normal school process, seems to have accelerated a general reflection on the importance of investing immediately, both in terms of economic and intellectual resources, and on school, particularly in Italy where these activities take place mainly in contexts with many decades behind them and therefore inevitably inadequate. Architecture, among all the arts, is certainly that transversal discipline which links hardware – the building – to software – the programme – and clearly it is impossible to separate one from the other. However, it appears evident that architects have the role of interpreters of the spatial needs highlighted by experts in the field of pedagogy and educational sciences and to focus attention with particular reference to their expertise in the construction of spaces and systems for living, by proposing typological models and constructive systems able to respond effectively to today‘s needs. This is an extraordinary opportunity to return to giving value to civil architecture and therefore to public buildings which have the task of highlighting how much a community is able to represent and reflect itself with its works in a sustainable vision of the future, showing itself to be attentive to people’s needs and of expressing society’s awareness towards issues that improve the quality of people’s lives.

Marco Casamonti

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