Architecture of Schools

Linda K. Lemasters

School architecture is the art and the science of designing educational facilities. The expanded definition includes the school planning process, the design process, the interior design elements and furniture, and the exterior landscaping. Most architects and school administrators consider school architecture within the confines of aesthetics, form, and function. Schools have evolved from being in homes, churches, and one-room schoolhouses to buildings that are designed and constructed for the sole purpose of instruction with multiple rooms. As this transformation has occurred, the complexity of the school facility increased: from simply a “box” with one or more classrooms to a complicated maze of offices, clinics, laboratories, auditoriums, cafeterias, computer complexes, and gymnasiums. Glen I. Earthman and Linda K. Lemasters noted that one of the most crucial decisions that a school board will make after deciding to build a school is the selection of the architect. Such a process can be lengthy; ...

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