Позитивные изменения. Образование. Школа будущего (Тематический выпуск, 2022)/Positive changes. Education. The school of the future (Special issue, 2

At the same time, the architect should be aware that children, with their endless energy and rich imagination, are badly in need of some unique impressions, some markers of self-identity. The school architecture can and should be one of these markers, which is why off-the-shelf solutions in this case are not exactly inapplicable (they are applicable everywhere), but rather harmful.

Think about A. S. Griboyedov Gymnasium No. 1529 (formerly Gogol School No. 59) in Starokonyushenny Lane in Moscow. Why is it so popular, why are so many people eager to send their children there? It’s not just about the reputation of the institution itself and the qualifications of the teachers working there. The people are attracted to the building itself — a building with a history, a recognizable image imprinted in the memory. Most Russian schools, alas, cannot boast of this.

The "Finnish School" near Moscow, which I also mentioned here, is sort of a prototype of the Burabay boarding school, just as Nabokov's novel "Camera Obscura" can be seen as a sketch for "Lolita." in the Finnish School project, we first formulated the principles that later formed the basis of the iQanat concept.

In 2012, the authoritative architectural magazine Project Russia published a special issue on «Childhood», with photos of typical schools in Moscow’s Butovo district. It was a sad sight, of course — plain gray boxes with flecks of pale pink, pale green or pale yellow, rarely adorned with some graphics. Who came up with such a strange design code, if that term can be used here at all? And how can anyone identify themselves with something like that? Instead of vibrant and inspiring architecture that conveys that knowledge is not only useful, but also mighty interesting, we have faceless education factories, conveying little more than the fact that a person is but a cog in a giant machine called "the state".

I would say that the architect’s main task when designing a school is to pack somewhat conservative functions into an attractive, imagination-stirring wrapper. There is a term that, like the word "design code," came to us from the English language: "Iconic architecture." Iconic meaning "unique, being unlike anything, outstanding." The school architecture may not have to be outstanding, but it certainly has to be unique.

WHAT IS IN THE WAY TODAY?

First of all, perhaps, it is the current design standards, which require a radical revision, in my professional opinion. In general, any architecture begins with two things — a list of standards and the terms of reference. Standards are determined by the state — it is its prerogative, and the terms of reference are formulated by the customer, based on regulatory and other constraints. The same government or business can also act as a customer for the design of an educational institution. The so-called public-private partnership format is also possible, when, for example, a developer receives land for building on preferential terms, but with an obligation to build a great school — school 14 in Pushkin, Moscow Region, is a good example that comes to mind.

The state is primarily interested in the speed of work: it is concerned about providing the necessary educational space to the people as quickly as possible, to reduce the shortage of school and kindergarten places. It rarely cares about the quality of architecture, unless there is politics involved — incidentally, this is also when larger-than-usual budgets are allocated for the projects.

By the way, traditionally modest funding is another obstacle to moving beyond typical architecture in education. Business, on the other hand, is much more flexible. Almost every school in Russia whose architecture deserves attention and expert discussion, is a private school, that is, paid school. And this is no accident. Khoroshkola in the capital’s Khoroshevo-Mnevniki district is private; the Finnish School in the Moscow suburbs — private, the President school in Ilyinskoe highway — private, the Wunderpark school on Novorizhskoe highway, needless to say, — private. The situation is similar in the CIS countries. An innovative boarding school was built in Burabay, Kazakhstan, in 2021, based on our design — it is also private. In this case, even when the customer is a business and substantial funding is allocated for the school construction, we, the architects, still have to struggle with the existing standards. By "struggle” I mean the endless search for compromises and legal loopholes in order to come up with something original that would please the children, which would make them proud of their alma mater.