‘Sick’ Schools
Scotland has appointed the country’s first education design champion. His job? Promote good design of schools. Paul Stallan quickly steered the discussion from lack of budgets to lack of vision and innovation. “A good environment for young people in formative years of their lives is fundamental. They should be encouraged to go to school. Design can address all this.”
He also highlighted the example of Fuji Kindergarten in Tachikawa, Tokyo, Japan as a shining example of school design. (There is little English on the site, except for their user-centred educational policy: “Kids first. Help me do it myself.”)
‘Place’ is a fundamental pillar of any great organisation and I am reminded of one of my favourite quotes on the subject.
Space matters. We mean by this that the physical environment in which an organization works is not simply a neutral backdrop. A workspace supports, enables, or constrains what takes place in it.
James P. Hackett, President & CEO, Steelcase Inc.
Scottish schools are ‘sick’ says education design tsar
Monocle: Fuji Kindergarten report
