PARADIGM SHIFT FOR INNOVATION
Education is the key to our future. Schools are the arenas of education where students develop and cultivate their multi-intelligence. The design of effective learning environment should enhance rather than limit possible learning opportunities.
The Education Commission of Hong Kong Special Administration Region recently suggested "Breaking Down Confinement and Creating Space"in the document of "Reform Proposals for the Education System in Hong Kong" in September 2000. The same spirit should be adopted in school design. We should not confine ourselves to conventional norms and types.
Addressing and responding to the design challenges of specific school projects and their context proactively will yield innovations and creativity. Demands for both quantity and quality in school building require a paradigm shift in the design of learning environment.
In present knowledge-based society our economy and workplace require more individualized services and more customatized products, often demand fluid division of labour to cater for different work tasks, high connectivity to information technologies and intense communications and co-operation for problem solving.
The level of multi-intelligence required in our society in a global context is escalating. To maintain our competitive edge we must prepare our next generation for the knowledge and information era. Quite often specific work tasks require on-demand specialization founded on available resource network. Intense communications and teamwork of a modern workplace also demand social maturity. Capacity in life-long learning and co-operation will be the key to continual growth and upgrading.
Thinking students as containers of knowledge, current educational reform advocates that formal education should aim at "Preparing the containers" rather than "Filling them". To promote and sustain life-long and effective learning, school design should not be limited to traditional knowledge transmission. It should target at an enjoyable, fruitful and inspiring experience of learning. Appropriate spatial quality and design of the physical learning environment will be essential to the experience.
ISSUES COVERED IN THIS DOCUMENT
Innovative design could only be materialized with thorough understanding of the challenges and persistently seeking the best suited design solution for a specific case.
This document does not attempt to give solutions or to quantify all design alternatives in school design. It aims to identify different key important design challenges and provides illustrated design test cases and built projects to shed light on how these challenges might be handled. The parameters and design suggestions are not meant to be solutions in themselves but serve as alternative design types and design insights, aiming to foster further creativity and innovations.
The Hong Kong built environment is known for its high density and high-rise model; our challenge lies particularly in creating magnificent spaces for learning - only possible with the utmost creativity.
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