"We don't design buildings, but intriguing lifestyles." taking users' lifestyles as the starting point of design has always been the design approach practiced by LYCS Architecture. Combined with years of architectural design practice in primary and secondary schools, the author tries to get rid of the mere space classification, but takes the temporal experience of students' behavioral needs as the entry point for research, and classifies their corresponding spaces into: "Improvised (1 minute)", "Temporary (10-15 minutes)", "Brief (20-30 minutes)" and "Untimed (X)" four types. Initially, we establish the architectural space system corresponding to them and their corresponding design strategies. In the previous article, we explored two types of spaces, improvised and temporary, based on the corresponding length of students' 1-minute and 10-15-minute pan-learning activities, and in this issue we will continue to explore two types, "Ephemeral (20-30 minutes)" and "Untimed (X)".
4 Short-term type 20-30 minutes
Based on a large number of post-visits of the author's practice inaugural works, it was found that students always prefer to stay at school after school and organize club activities, so that the 20-30 minutes after school become the main brief type of pan-learning time. Such informal learning activities are mainly interest-oriented and occur in a planned manner, and the corresponding space is chosen with a strong target to ensure sufficient and effective pan-learning time. How to maximize the activity duration and develop diverse pan-learning activities within the limited 20-30 minutes? The focus is on:
(1) Unlike small-scale intimate spaces and large-scale open spaces, medium-scale spaces are created to accommodate 10-20 people to gather for sexual behavior;
2) Enhance the accessibility and centripetal, openness and adaptability of each functional space, so that students can precisely locate the activity space that matches their needs.
Among them, "small square" and "big step" are two appropriate and effective space types and models, whose centripetal and open characteristics are naturally attractive to students' individual, group and collective pan-learning activities.
Traditional campus plazas are often used for group activities such as flag-raising and weekly meetings, and their open, large-scale space features weaken students' sense of security. How to change the oppressive feeling of large scale plaza space, induce students to enter and carry out activities actively, and increase the frequency of using plaza space? The key lies in the adaptability and attractiveness of the small-scale, multi-level plaza space for pan-learning activities.
Take the circular "theater" of Wenyuan School in Lishui City, which is composed of the central square and each teaching building, as an example, the specific design mainly shows that:
1) Turning the whole into zero. By splitting and combining and twisting the main building, forming more than 10 places suitable for 1-2 classes of students' activities, organically integrating and connecting them with the landscape, and orderly guiding groups and classes to hold activities such as knowledge competitions, rehearsal drills and book sharing;
2) Centripetal force. The central plaza is surrounded by the building volumes and the storm corridor, making it a focal point of sight. Considering the central square as the center of the stage, the circular storm corridor is the grandstand and used to transport students to each functional volume. The "audience" walking through the corridor is often attracted by the "skits" such as class competitions and free debates on the central "stage", and their behavior follows the "drama". The behavior of the audience follows the "plot" of the play until it ends and they return to their original space to continue their formal classroom learning.
3) Accessibility. The use of the storm corridor efficiently organizes and connects the functional spaces, going beyond the original role of organizing traffic and space to become a central place for gatherings and activities.
The 20-30 minute "skit" clearly shows the behavior change of students from the edge of the classroom to the central theater: "curiosity-viewing-engagement-exit". The center square, because of its centripetal force and accessibility, becomes an attractive outdoor exhibition hall, theater and flea market, where students are constantly watching, entering and exiting.
The grand staircase provides a social venue for students to expand their social sphere while meeting transportation needs. Students sitting on the steps can quickly enter the role of audience, freely watching and sharing their opinions on playground activities. How can the grand staircase combine the functions of transportation, learning, and socializing, while meeting the needs of transportation and general learning activities?
As a transitional space connecting the sports field and the innovation space, the large step space of the First School of Quzhou High-railway New City (under construction), for example, carries the daily passage of students and the flag-raising ceremony. In order to provide a suitable venue for students to organize choral performances, sports and exercise, book clubs and other activities after school, firstly, by changing the width of the steps to make the grand staircase meet the demand for passage, and at the same time, as an audience and choral stage to carry viewing and performance activities; secondly, the landscape interspersed with embellishments to strengthen the attractiveness of the grandstand space, becoming a venue for students to socialize, exercise and punch cards and explore practice.
The bleachers are connected to the upper indoor space, where movement and learning interpenetrate, and the static learning indoors and dynamic activities outdoors are freely switched, thus making the bleachers an additional space for students to sit and share. In addition, extracurricular knowledge is placed on the side of the steps in the form of words, graphics and symbols, changing the inherent image of the steps while invisibly transmitting information to students passing through or sitting idly. The strategy of large steps has also been widely used in the designs of Yiwu New Century Foreign Language School and Hangzhou Future Science and Technology City Haishu School, where this space type has proven to be widely popular among students and can effectively carry them for 20-30 minutes of activities.
5 "X" Hours
Students spend more than two-thirds of their time in school in the formal classroom of 40-45 minutes, and in the remaining time at their disposal, students can engage in informal learning activities of any length ("X"). The function, nature, and duration of the space corresponding to such activities depend entirely on students' irregular, multi-thematic activities and content, and require multiple levels and flexibility of their space to meet the needs of different pan-learning activities.
In the design practice, author found that small-scale multi-level courtyard and multi-sense roof space are very effective space types and design strategies that can meet the activity experience of any length of time for group, collective, and class groups at the same time.
The ground-level outdoor activity space is often too large and distant for students, and large and long activities cannot be held in rainy days. In order to make the "X" type pan-learning activities not affected by objective factors such as time, weather and venue, we try to bring the ground activities to the small and intimate roof activity space.
In order to flexibly adapt to students' individualized and differentiated needs, 15 small monoliths are used to create 15 spaces with unlimited functions, providing at least 15 kinds of informal learning activities, such as planting, reading, stargazing, displaying, performing, etc. Students can go to the corresponding rooftop space to hold handicraft creation, labor practice and other informal learning activities according to their own activity needs. Some of the undefined and unallocated white space "contains a pre-defined basic rhythm within the plane and follows a unified law that can produce endless changes". Students can use movable furniture and partitions on their free planes to independently plan the scale and form of the space to accommodate their activities. The rooftop space with large steps and a small running track has become an alternative sports field where students can hold small sports games and science presentations regardless of the weather.
The clear and orderly structure of the roof space strengthens the tolerance of the space filler, so that its form is reorganized and updated with the change of activity time and content, and empowers students to unlock the way of using the space by themselves to the maximum extent.
Informal learning spaces upward expansion of the roof space allows for the realization of the informal learning activities such as exercise and extracurricular knowledge expansion that cannot be carried on the ground. The roof and walls form a "nest" with a sense of security, allowing students to feel a sense of security and belonging.
In order to improve the accessibility of the courtyard space and to meet the needs of multiple classes with different themes, the large scale courtyard is dismantled into a small but rich "pocket park".
Taking the courtyards sunken in the Fifth Experimental Primary School of Quzhou (under construction) as an example, firstly, different themed courtyards are placed between the teaching buildings, which are connected to the surrounding indoor space through the aisles and become the spatial compensation for indoor activities, forming the spatial rhythm of "classroom-corridor-courtyard". The spatial rhythm of "classroom-corridor-courtyard" allows students studying in the classroom and watching from the corridors to move freely through this spatial sequence and carry out pan-learning activities such as presentations, knowledge competitions and explorations and practices.
Secondly, the transparent interface between the classroom and the courtyard formed by transparent materials or forms creates opportunities for students to make visual contact, and indoor communication and discussion, thinking and watching activities and outdoor lecture and performance, practical and creative activities interpenetrate each other when their eyes meet, thus arousing students' curiosity about the courtyard space activities. The multi-layered and multi-themed courtyard space formed through the variation of spatial scale, enclosure and openness can meet the static or dynamic informal learning activities of large, medium and small class groups. In addition, the spatial nodes formed by the landscape, such as shading and semi-shading, sunny and shady corners, suggest and guide students' direction of travel and reap the benefits of the courtyard experience. The transparent interface between the classroom and the courtyard "expands the spatial order and perceives a series of different spatial positions", which leads to seeing and being seen and creates a gathering effect, while inducing students to enter the courtyard for activities and activating the spatial vitality due to its rich landscape nodes and levels.
6 Summary
The shift in the perception of "learning" in the context of diversity education has led to a re-examination of the educational role of informal learning spaces, where "learning" does not only take place in the classroom. Informal learning spaces students are guided to release themselves from fixed formal learning and to experience informal learning spacesat different durations. In order to meet students' needs for informal learning activities with unlimited time and place and a variety of contents and methods, we put forward the requirements of accessibility, openness, and multi-levels for the composite informal learning spaces, emphasizing that the system of informal learning spacesand its corresponding creation methods are based on the informal learning temporal experience based on students' behavioral needs, and realizing the transition from a "learning factory" to a "diversified educational ecological park. The evolution from a "learning factory" to a "diversified educational ecological park".
The original article "Primary and secondary school architecture in the trend of diversified teaching and learning of composite informal learning spacesdesign research" was published in "Decoration" 2022.03
