Linking Architecture and Education: Sustainable Design of Learning Environments

Chapter Ten: Learning Landscapes

| 323 Introduction: Transforming the School Grounds into a Learning Landscape The school of the future is designed as a whole, with equal design emphasis placed on the geological site as well as the school facility. School grounds as we know them today, however , rarely reflect the importance of place in our lives. Travel across our incredibly varied nation through several life zones and you will see virtually identical playgrounds surrounded by chain link fences. The large acreage of many schools—often the richest piece of real estate in the neighborhood—is lying fallow, untended, and neglected. Other schools rest on pieces of property that have been isolated from community, heavily engineered, stripped clean, paved with too much asphalt, hidden behind security screens, and robbed of character. Sense of place has been erased. The drive toward environmental quality (greening and sustainability ) makes the issue of landscaping for cities and public spaces such as schools more critical than ever before. Land art is a beautification tool, a focus of public art, and a soft embrace for the built environment. In a 2005 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, the museum recognized the design of constructed landscapes and the spaces between buildings as being as important to the quality of the urban environment as the buildings themselves (Reed, 2005). Biotecture, or the greening of cities seen in green roofs, facade gardens, vertical farms, and other applications, reduces the urban heat island effect, cleans the air, helps manage water and runoff, and reduces human stress. Constructing the contemporary landscape requires a new synergism among architects, artists, landscape planners, ecologists, engineers, urban planners, and politicians. All new development should include a certain amount of landscape as part of the design. Chapter Ten Learning Landscapes| 323 Seeing the Future of the Learning Environment 324 | My primary purpose in this chapter is to awaken the minds of architects and educators to the limitless learning potential of the school grounds, and to promote the development of specially designed spaces for outdoor learning experiences through an informed sense of landscape architecture. Our children and our communities need settings that help students participate in creating their own landscape architecture. It is time to transform our underutilized playgrounds and educational campuses into potent, integrated learning landscapes that reflect our culture and our values. Top: Montage of school playground. Forsaken, forlorn, and all too familiar. Photograph courtesy of Anne Taylor. Above Left: West High School, Aurora, Illinois. Landscaped school courtyard. Gaylaird Christopher, principal architect, A4E. Perkins + Will Architects. Photograph courtesy of Gaylaird Christopher. Above right: Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores Monterrey Santa Fe High School, Mexico City, 2004. Large windows allow varying perspectives and a visual connection between indoor and outdoor environments. Photograph by Lourdes Legorreta. Legorreta + Legorreta Architects. Learning Landscapes | 325 V. Sue Cleveland High School, Rio Rancho, New Mexico. Designing for outdoor spaces as well as structures supports learning throughout the whole school environment. Van H. Gilbert Architect PC. George Radnovich, Sites Southwest LLC. Seeing the Future of the Learning Environment 326 | What Is a Learning Landscape? Learning landscapes are thoughtfully designed, attractive school grounds that offer outdoor spaces for learning math, science, history, art, literature, ecology, and stewardship. They are teaching and learning tools that go beyond the undisputed benefits of relaxation, physical exercise, sports, and fresh air to act as organic, three-dimensional textbooks. They are resources for readily accessible , real-life study, and an inspiration for curriculum development as well. Learning landscape architecture may contain Natural elements: The climate, plants, animals, habitats, soils and rocks, sun and shadows, water, hills/topography, wetlands, and more Multisensory elements: Variety in textures, colors, patterns, sounds, tastes, and smells Agricultural elements: Gardens of all kinds, farms, orchards, irrigation systems, land management areas, animal pens Built elements: Play structures and equipment, exercise equipment, pathways, bermed earth, steps, shade structures, sports venues, pavilions, gazebos, seating, storage, fencing, walls, ground surfacing and graphics, signage, rooftop play areas Outdoor classroom elements: Weather stations, energy stations (windmills, solar panels), sundials, amphitheaters, musical playscapes of outdoor instruments, nature trails, fitness trails, solar greenhouses, water harvesting systems, science labs Cultural elements: Indigenous design, entryways, student art, public art, courtyards, plazas, gathering spaces for different-sized groups, architectural styles, local materials, separate access for public use, and Transitional elements: Ways to bring the outside in and to expand the learning environment, including porches, patios adjacent to classrooms, decks, sunrooms, terraces, openable walls and windows...