Skolen finder sted

Skolen finder sted

Målet med forskningsprojektet ”Skolen finder sted” er at etablere viden om samspillet mellem pædagogik og arkitektur, mellem børn og rum, og om samspillets beskaffenhed. En sådan viden forventes at kunne medvirke til at kvalificere dialog og beslutningsgrundlag i kommende skolebyggerier samt indgå i arkitektens værktøjskasse, projektets overordnede vinkling er således designteoretisk.

Det er en grundlæggende antagelse i projektet, at relationen mellem skolens fysiske ramme og den indhold skal opfattes som et samspil, hvor den ”virkning” et givet design har på aktiviteter og adfærd i skolen forudsættes at være modtagerafhængigt.

De anvendte metoder er kvalitative, idet undersøgelsen er foretaget som en kombination af etnologisk inspireret feltarbejde, interview, arkitektoniske analyser, herunder udvikling af analysemodel. Teoretisk trækker forskningsarbejdet på teorier fra pædagogik, filosofi, psykologi og designteori.

I analysemodellen opdeles samspillet i fem ”rum”: Det sociale rum, handlingens rum, det adfærdsregulerende rum, det betydningsbærende rum og det stemte rum. Rummene gennemgås enkeltvis med en række refleksioner over samspillets beskaffenhed med brug af andre teoretikere på den ene side og eksempler på bygningsudformning på den anden. Konkrete eksempler. hvor designet gør en forskel for de måder, hvorpå mennesker kan bruge og erfare de fysiske omgivelser. Hvert af de fem afsnit afsluttes med formulering af nogle designgreb, der står arkitektens til rådighed i formgivningsarbejdet.Arkitektens arbejde består i at omsætte en lang række visioner for, hvad der er godt for børns trivsel og udvikling i skolen, i konkrete byggematerialer og fysiske rum. Der er således tale om at omsætte abstrakte forhold i materiel virkelighed. En afsluttende perspektivering tager derfor udgangspunkt i den franske filosof Bruno Latour, fordi han på et filosofisk plan behandler relationer mellem forskelligartede uens forhold.

Creating school buildings

The goal of the research project ”Skolen finder sted” (”Creating school buildings”) is to contribute knowledge about the interplay between pedagogy and architecture, between children and space and about the nature of this interplay. This type of knowledge will help to improve the quality of dialogue and the basis for decisions regarding the building of schools in the future, as well as becoming a standard part of the architect s toolbox. Thus, the overriding considerations in the project deal with design theory. A basic premise of the project is that the relationship between the school s physical configuration and its content are to be regarded as an interaction, in which the effect of a given design on activities and behavior at school is assumed to be user-dependent.

The methods employed are qualitative, in that the research is carried out as a combination of ethnologically inspired fieldwork, interviews and architectural analyses including the development of an analytic model. For theoretical anchoring, the research draws upon numerous pedagogical, philosophical and design theories.In the analytical model the interaction is divided into five spaces . Social space, Activity space, Behavior regulating space, Space as a conveyor of meaning and Tuned space as a conveyor of atmosphere. The five spaces and the nature of interactions within them are examined one by one in relation to various theories and in realtion to examples of various building configurations; concrete examples, in which design makes a difference for the way people can utilize and experience their physical surroundings. Each of the five sections closes with the formulation of design principles that are available to the architect during the design process.

The architect s task is to convert a long series of visions of what is good for the well being and development of children at school, into concrete building materials and physical spaces. It is, thus, a matter of transforming abstract relationships into material reality. In closing, the entire discussion is put into perspective by relating it to the writings of the French philosopher Bruno Latour, who treats the interplay of differing kinds of dissimilar relationships from a philosophical point of departure.