Many school and college campuses are like small cities--they offer a little bit of everything. Although academic buildings and residence halls account for a sizable percentage of the facilities on a campus, the academic community on a school campus can include other buildings with specialized design and performance needs: laboratories,…

Project selection is an essential matter of design teaching. Based on observations of a specific curriculum, the author claims that a wide repertoire of subjects including offices, restaurants, hotels, and other public places are used to prepare design students, but that schools and other "learning environments/ schools" are similarly…

Describes a 1,500-student open plan middle school. (JF)

Describes an elementary school that makes skillful use of earth berms to provide interesting interior and exterior spaces with unusual economies in building and operation; and a high school that has created an atmosphere of excitement through the involvement of students and teachers in interior planning. (Author/DN)

General recommendations are set forth regarding aesthetics, acoustics, lighting, temperature control, location, and layout of the instructional media center. Consideration is given to spatial relationships, equipment and furnishings, and suggestions are included regarding basic and advance facilities for primary, middle and secondary schools. (FS)

Discusses studies showing that color and light have a significant influence on how students learn and retain information (for example, daylight is much more beneficial than fluorescent light). Describes how many architects and designers are now incorporating these findings into their work in schools. (EV)

Since physical environment has such a pronounced effect on mental attitude, all efforts should be made to create pleasant buildings. This can be done by paying attention to the views, colors, textures, greenery, art objects, inviting places for small group discussions, special features such as fireplaces and outdoor areas, etc. (Author/LBH)

Explores the major problems with many of the new state-of-the-art buildings designed to house child care programs and concludes that the buildings are too small. (BB)

In this article, the author talks about legibility as an essential component of education facility design. Legibility is concerned not only with stylistic consistency, but also with other design factors that help make a building understandable. Reconfigured interiors and multiple additions can create confusing paths. Illogical assortments of…

Several architects, planners, administrators, and contractors answer questions about trends related to school construction, interior design, business, security, and technology. Trends concern funding issues, specialized designs, planning for safety, technological integration, and equity in services. (EV)

As teacher educators, the authors visit numerous learning environments. Each school has its own unique characteristics and personality. Some schools seem to have a magnetic draw, filling the senses with energy, wonder and intrigue. This energy, writes the authors, stems from a symbiotic relationship, a flow of spaces that work together…

Changes in instructional methods and ideologies depend on simultaneous changes in the physical environment for the practice of those methods. School architecture results from the type of activity dictated by educational theories. One of the principal ideologies of education is socialization, which perceives education as a process of preparing…

The purpose of the study was to (a) determine the design features of the physical learning environment that support collaborative, project-based learning, and (b) to gain an understanding of the rationale for the selection of the features. The literature review indicated a need for changing learning expectations to prepare learners for rapidly…