Educational buildings, one of the most important buildings to keep the world going, change their needs and faces every decade, every century. If we talk about the specifics of this century, we are going into the age of technology and liberal mindsets, breaking and making barriers. We are evolving, and so is the architecture of the 21st century.
Here are 10 such educational buildings:
1. Asahi Kindergarten, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan | Educational Buildings
In 2012, Tezuka architects built a kindergarten after Japan’s devastating tsunami using local cedar trees damaged by saltwater. The kindergarten uses wood leniently for the little users to feel one with nature and architecturally because it can keep the continuation from the structure to the small details.
A prevailing slope is smartly used as a playground, for children to explore the area beneath the timber. Throughout the structure, a series of interlocking joints come together to contain a large room that can be reconfigured.
2. Malvina Day Nursery, Prague, Czech
Malvína Day Nursery is for kids with separation anxiety aiming to create an atmosphere that would help children’s development and would positively challenge them. The nursery rooms are organized around a central space with large windows and everything is designed for ease of visibility and reachability, to let the parents spend more time with the children.
For kids who find it difficult to part from their parents, the studio installed windows near the exits where they will wave goodbye while being held by their caretakers.
3. Lilavati Lalbhai Library, Ahmedabad, India
The CEPT Library is envisioned by Rahul Mehrotra of RMA Architects as a result of the university’s ongoing shift away from a traditional pedagogy towards a choice-based curriculum. Completed with an operating manual for college students, the building’s modulated, the louvered facade will be manually adjusted to permit less light or more ventilation in response to Ahmedabad’s severely hot and dry climate.
Located at -4 meters and -8 meters below ground level, the book stacks, carrels, and study spaces have the benefit of both plentiful and filtered natural lighting.
4. Druk White Lotus Boarding School, Leh, India
Designed by architects and engineers from Arup Associates and Ove Arup & Partners, the master plan and school buildings merge with local building techniques and materials of environmental design to make them effective in the extreme climate.
Originally aimed as a model for sustainable development in Ladakh, it provides education for 840 pupils and residential accommodation for 350 children. The school aims to give children from this remote part of India a high-quality, modern education, whilst engaging with local cultures or traditions.
5. Nisha’s Playschool, Goa, India | Educational Buildings
The brainchild of Ar. Gerard De Cunha, there was an aim to make and nurture fine personalities and teach the developing minds to balance the mind, body, intellect, and spirit. One such school is Nisha’s Play School and Shiksha Niketan. Its design aims to create a playful, safe, and stimulating learning environment for students.
Located in a valley at the edge of a forest, the site is rather dark and poorly ventilated. The building design and form evolved from the necessity to optimize daylighting and enhance natural ventilation.
6. The Rajasthan School, Rajasthan, India
Reflecting the innateness of Indian villages & old cities, Rajasthan School has open, enclosed, and semi-enclosed spaces. Considering the desert with temperatures over 35°C for most of the year, each of the classrooms is north-oriented to derive indirect sunlight.
The entire circulation is with open ventilated corridors covering & skirting the focal semi-sheltered landscaped court in the center. An entire load of electrical power is generated by the residual energy of a nearby cement plant. Water is recycling & reusing is prominently practiced. That’s how an energy-efficient building is made.
7. Brick Group of Institutes, Pune, India
A campus by Navkar architects, this school of architecture is a model for the pupils to peek into the practical world of architecture. Interaction is the foremost purpose of the design and the whole structure and layout reflect on it. The inspiration is taken from the South Indian temples
(elements like the layering of spaces, symmetry in planning, and axial circulation).
The design also draws its concepts from the traditional architecture of the courtyard Wada typology of old Pune city.
8. Student Village Dormitories, Aarhus, Denmark
Student Village is an urban community built in and around a timber farm. The project consists of single and double room apartments for common rooms and shared facilities. The new buildings are similar to the old farms’ layout, creating intimate spaces.
The design ensures that each apartment has direct access to nature, and every resident socializes on the premises. The barn, the largest common space, together with the large courtyard, serves as a communal space for the residents and as a center of the village.
9. The Music Box Campus, London, UK
The Music Box of London College of Contemporary Media is a box-shaped studio. Using the proportions of the golden section, the building has 2 parts. The form reflects the simplicity of the external surfaces, but the erosions on this cubic form truly define the form concept.
This building accommodates the music college and 10 storeys of affordable and private residential units above it. The concept and architectural approach were inspired by the desire to reflect the creative energy generated inside the college, transferring it to the streets outside to engage both its users and the public.
10. York University Student Centre, Toronto, Canada | Educational Buildings
York University created a center to accommodate the changing needs of its large and diverse community. The project is the result of the student body voting in favor of a second building devoted solely to student space.
The aim of this project excels at creating a campus destination where all students can feel welcome, safe, engaged, and motivated to excel. The inclusive design was made a part of this project’s mission from day one. This center stands as a paragon of how design can make significant positive changes in both campus culture and students’ lives.
