A new school on the water in Amsterdam Noord provides a venue for the desired innovation in education.

'Books, no matter how scholarly, are always biographies of their authors'
Annabel Jane Wharton

After years of neglect and poor funding, the report issued by the Dijsselbloem Committee on innovations in secondary education states that education is high on the political agenda again. Given the social importance of this issue, architects are engaged in finding solutions that meet all the demands made of the 'new school'.

Our society, living conditions and responsibilities have changed dramatically in the past twenty years. Now that the school is not the sole source of knowledge it puts into question the role of schools in today's society. This makes the design of buildings for education a bigger challenge for architects than ever before. How can today's pupil be an individual and at the same time one of a group? Classrooms are often replaced with learning environments; assembly halls have become schoolyards. Has the classroom lost its value for the school? And if all the space in a school is for everyone, how can you find a space of your own?

The education system in the Netherlands is exceedingly wide-ranging: besides the more traditional institutions, you can choose from British, American, Islamic and Montessori schools. There are in addition all kinds of special education given at private schools. Dutch society is open to experiments in education. This project makes the most of this fact and is based on my own school experiences in Soviet Russia. You might say that a school building is the most influential building an architect can design. It is the setting where characters and principles are shaped.

Place of education: AvB Amsterdam | Specialization: architecture | Tutors: Don Murphy, Holger Gladys, Heike Löhmann