Other Contributors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture.

Consultant: Shun Kanda.The ultimate goal with this thesis would be to make an architectural proposal that produces a genius loci with this area along with a genius loci within the college, each of which would reinforce educational potential.

Department: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture.

Writer: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Date Issued: 1996

During the last 200 years formal education has changed into a major element of society. It is viewed as working out of people to become free-thinking, adding citizens. Education has additionally been touted as the easiest method to solve many social affilictions. It relates to improving health, employment possibilities, racial tolerance, and general enhancements in the caliber of existence. Despite our wants formal education a number of our schools aren’t meeting even our minimal expectations. The essential question this thesis seeks to reply to is: Just how can the architectural experience with a college reinforce the academic experience with the scholars along with the school’s value in society? Before we are able to answer this we must ask: Exactly what is a good educational experience? While you will find a multitude of opinions with regards to this, I suggest that the good educational experience is one that’s in line with the natural educative experience with living existence inside a society. I would cal I ‘informal’ education and involves five fundamental concepts: observation, imitation, instruction, experimentation, and discussion. These five fundamental concepts would be best supported inside a community.

If this sounds like naturally that certain learns inside a non institutionalized setting, and when schools are an institutionalized abstraction from the bigger society, it follows these activities should occur within the school setting to ensure that education works well in producing active creative citizens. In line with the premises mentioned above th is thesis seeks to check the next ideas: 1) A cohesive community will need a genius loci or “spirit of place” to function. An essential condition for any genius loci is really a collective space. If your school is supposed to be considered a microcosm of the bigger society then it must operate since it’s own community. So that it requires a genius loci along with a collective spot for this genius loci to exist. A effective school should thus possess the built chance for collective gathering. 2) The college can’t be isolated it has to have built exchanges using the bigger community so the school’s community is sustained. 3) When the school may be the institutionalization of ‘informal’ education then your school must have a wide range of spaces that will permit 5 fundamental activities of ‘informal’ education to occur at a number of size gatherings because they do within the bigger community. 4) The school’s form ought to be non hierarchical but reflect democracy. To check these ideas I’ve developed a small public senior high school in Cambridge, MA that does not only functions like a senior high school but additionally supplies a genius loci for that community with the built integrating of faculty and community functions.

The website can be found alongside Sonnet Park, that is heavily utilized by the nearby, ethnically, racially, and economically diverse neighborhood.

Thesis (M. Arch.)–Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1996.Includes bibliographical references (p. 87-89).