​Architecture as an Educational Tool

When developing this architectural project, we set for ourselves the task of making the building itself an educational tool. For our colleagues from the Danish architectural company CEBRA, it was an inspiring challenge. In the course of joint workshops, they instantly responded to queries, together with us they worked out daily educational scenarios in the designed space and accordingly adjusted their engineering and planning solutions.

The most challenging thing was to fit our architectural and educational ideas into the Procrustean bed of Russian norms. In the extremely regulated kindergarten, in order to meet external requirements, individual group cells had to be fenced off and connected by corridors, which contradicts all modern trends. In the other buildings, we were able to preserve multiple links and create public spaces saturated with educational functions, adjusting them in accordance with the required standards.

The building was supposed to embody the idea of unity, fundamental for a charity project, to help the child make choices, inspire him to act, reflect his growing up, teach him to responsibly manage space and his education. The architects proposed a circle of separate buildings under a unifying roof, where the child, as he grows up, moves from one building to another, and the daily route can be chosen from many options. The result is a complete reflection of the educational idea in the architectural and spatial solutions.

The competition program was all about finding a new type of school based on the knowledge and logic of modern research in the field of teaching science.
We achieved that by creating recognizable architecture with a strong identity. Several volumes with gable roofs are grouped into a ring cut from the outside like a circle: as if several individual buildings were connected by a common roof. Large outlets of eaves, protecting from sun and rain, will allow people to use the external space at different times of the year. In addition, the educational program of the classrooms, according to our plan, should be continued in the space of the center of the ring, in the green courtyard/patio: it should become active, lively and busy. Quiet contemplative classrooms set off the activity of the center; on the other hand, they are grouped along the outer contour, taking advantage of the beauty of the surrounding landscape.
We see architecture as a learning tool in itself; it can stimulate our ability to learn. I recommend checking out WISE, an e-book by CEBRA’s research department, and our sensor-based smart school design technology called Common Sense.

The project is of colossal complexity and scale, unprecedented for Russia. Compared to Moscow, this is a school of the level of Moscow’s Khoroshkola and Letovo, but “Point of the Future” is still larger and is located very far from the nation’s capital, in the remote city of Irkutsk. Therefore, I think it was a very lucky thing that our colleagues from the Danish CEBRA, an architectural company with experience in this area, developing new trends in the field of education, were involved in this project – their portfolio already included implemented projects of modern schools. We often called each other, discussing the concept; the main idea belongs to the Danes, but I must say that we also managed to add something. This work was mutually beneficial; it provided us with useful experience in the area of designing school buildings.

The image of the building is based on two major themes: since an important starting point of the project was to create a place in which orphaned children would be comfortable learning, the circle is a kind of wall that should create an effect of being securely protected – it is very important for these children to feel safe. The second idea is a house, hence the contour of the pitched roofs; it is important for children to perceive school as a second home.

The spatial concept is based on two key features of the new model of education: it should instill in people responsibility, primarily for themselves, independence, and, most importantly, the ability to educate themselves. A person learns throughout his entire life, in modern society this is more and more relevant, all the time you have to master something new, more and more cross-platform knowledge is required. Multifunctional and flexible are the two key words of the modern world, and we have incorporated them into the curriculum of this modern school. We even have different windows, somewhere small, somewhere large. Children are immediately taught to live, work, study, and interact in complex spaces. A significant part of the training does not take place according to the traditional model “teacher at the blackboard and children at their desks”, but differently, for example, in a playful way; children learn and teach each other, even during the recesses.

We highly value this project, and have put in a lot of effort to ensure that, in the course of further development and forced streamlining of the budget, we take care of both the educational concept underlying it, and the ideas proposed by our Danish colleagues.

In the CEBRA concept, the interiors were minimalist and even ascetic, built on neutrality and lack of color, which is not typical for Russia. What we added was based on one of the ideas of the school complex – namely, that the interior grows with the child, and the scale and emotional perception. In the baby spaces, we added textures with which they could interact. We gradually increased the scale of the interior according to the child’s age. We also added a bit of color, accents, and murals. But these are just accents, in general we followed the concept, reviving and emphasizing a few things here and there. 

In February, we received permission to put the educational complex into operation. The “Point of the Future” building is essentially not one, but six buildings positioned in a circle and united by one common roof. It is not only modern and comfortable, but also reliable, because we are talking about children here.

In the kindergarten classrooms, large and small windows are placed at different heights so that light evenly falls into the classrooms at any time of the day. There are practically no corridors in the complex – all large halls, passages, and open spaces. We have everything so that children could better communicate, study, and rest.

The project of a Danish company was taken as a basis, and the Russian specialists adapted it taking into account local specifics. For example, they took into account the high seismic activity of the region and reinforced the bearing structures. In Irkutsk, temperatures are low in winter and high in summer, so the building got extra insulation.

I really wanted the complex to have some local flavor about it. We live in a forest region here. Therefore, wooden benches from the Scandinavian countries were replaced with benches made of Siberian wood. We have been looking for Irkutsk craftsmen for a long time, who would make theme playgrounds for kids. As a result, we got unique gaming complexes that also perform an educational function. A large landscape park has already begun to be laid out around the building. It will consist mainly of native plants.