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With most people living in ‘archipelagoes of peripheries’ in a late capitalist global regime, on an earth struggling with environmental crises, the mission of learning environments is to provide the pod for growth, whether for kindergarten children, teenagers or adults in lifelong learning. The pod is both a protective and an enabling surrounding, and itself a living part of a greater organism. The paper proposes an approach to creation of learning environments through the intertwining of topographies - the owned and continual space of everyday life and dwelling; shrines - the spaces for the new, the exalted, the non habitual; and making by the community - the continual collaboration of the community, teachers and pupils in the design and re-design of the learning environments. All three counterparts are profoundly context related, soundly local and of uttermost significance to identity, belonging and hence wellbeing. The paper unfolds knowledge from diverse sources, ranging from scientific to phenomenological research, from non-conventional community-specific learning environments to historical precedents, and from architectural theory to practical-professional experience of the author. The resulting approach, summarized in a metaphorical nutshell as Topographies and Shrines aims at a pod-environment of learning: responsive, inclusive, and supportive.

Whether in school buildings or university campuses the educational process involves many activities that include knowledge acquisition and assimilation, testing students' motivation and academic performance, and faculty and teachers' productivity. The way in which we approach the planning, design, and our overall perception of learning environments makes powerful statements about how we view education; how educational buildings are designed tells us much about how teaching and learning activities occur. Concomitantly, how these activities are accommodated in a responsive educational environment is a critical issue that deserves special attention. While it was said several decades ago that a good teacher can teach anywhere, a growing body of knowledge-derived from knowledge on “evidence-based design” suggests a direct correlation between the physical aspects of the learning environment, teaching processes, and learning outcomes. In its commitment to introduce timely and pressing issues on built environment research, Open House International presents this special edition to debate and reflect on current discourses on sustainable learning environments.

DESIGN STUDIO PEDAGOGY - HORIZONS FOR THE FUTURE

Design Studio Pedagogy - Horizons For the Future