The HARVARD EDUCATIONAL REVIEW is a

journal of opinion and research '" the f1eld of

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REVIEW INDEX. Appropriate articles abst ra cted
HARVARD EDUCATIONAL REVIEW Vol. 39 No. 4 1969
Longfel low Hall, 13 Appian Way, Cambridge,
education. Articles are selected, ed1ted,
and published by an Editorial Bo.ard of fifteen
Massachusetts 02138 in PSYC HO LOGICA L AB STRACTS,
SOC IO LOG ICA L A BSTRACTS, HI STORICAL
ARCH ITECTURE AND EDUCATION
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graduate students in Harvard Umvers1ty, ~nd ABSTRACTS, and SOC IOLO GY OF
Editorial Secretary and Bus in ess Manager
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Cover Photograph by Gugliel mo Sasinini

$4.75
Our intent is to explore the relationship of architectural values to 4 Listening to Architecture
JAMES ACKERMAN
significant human experience and in particular to basic educational
goals-to question if and how the physical environment informs
and shapes and liberates the human spirit. GIANCARLO DE CARLO 12 How/Why to Build School Buildings

While authors were invited to write on the reciprocal implications of

PETER PRANGNELL 36 The Friendly Object
architectural and educational concerns we do not see this issue as
providing specific answers. Hopefully this will initiate a greater
collaboration through which both architects and educators may find 42 Drawings
SAUL STEINBERG
new insights.

Discussion of the issue began in 1967. The conception of the issue was ROBERT COLES 46 Those Places They Call Schools
largely shaped by two architectural consultants, Kenneth Freidus
and Robert Maltz. When Bob Maltz moved to Holland in 1968
HER MAN HERTZBERGER 58 The Montessori Primary School in Delft Holland
Ken Freidus assumed full responsibility for architectural and design
decisions including the layout. Several board members participated
significantly in different phases of its development, in particular Michael Is 'Architecture'
O'Neill, Barbara Nelson and Clifford Johnson. Two board members Should 'Architecture' Be
shared the greatest responsibility for the issue, David Robinson for the MAURICE SMITH 69 What For
Architects
past two years and Arthur Blackman from its beginning. Are
Designers

ROBERT GOODMAN 86 Liberated Zone: An Evolving Learning Space

TOPPER CAREW 98 Interview

SHADRACH WOODS 116 The Education Bazaar

ALDO VAN EYCK 126 The Enigma of Vast Multiplicity

\
The Education Bazaar Schools and universities in the Western world have too long been
more of a babysitting operation-in which the ruling class
parks its children while they wait to succeed their parents at the helm of
SHADRACH WOODS government or simply at coupon-clipping-than a real participation
in any viable society. Whether it is possible to change this without
changing the entire socio-economic structure is not at all sure. If not, then
we can only hope that the rebellion will ripen into revolution. This
hope is almost surely vain in the West, where a strong-arm, fascist
take-over appears far more likely. The climate preceding the Spanish
Civil War is closer to us than that which ushered in October 1917,
and this is why we hope that it may be possible to come to more valid
organizations without violence: not to save us from the left but rather from
1. The gap the right, which is waiting in the wing, as it were, of the White House.
It is not possible to review the future of anything, since it has not yet
But we hope that it may be possible to come to more valid education
occurred. It is, however, not only possible, but even essential to view the
present with an eye to immediate and continuing change. Change, organizations without necessarily going through violent upheaval.
in all things, is one of the only constants with which we deal, Indeed, we may assume that only through reorganization of our systems
whether we are architects, planners, or educators. Architects of education-to bring them more into line with the needs, the
avowed goals, the aspirations and the possibilities of a technologically
generally are extremely receptive to the idea of innovation in school
advanced culture, as ours is-can we avoid a violent confrontation.
buildings, for instance, and planners are constantly changing their ideas
The distance between the rules of the game in the academic sphere
about where or how big schools should be. Similarly, educators
and the realities outside is evidently increasing, and students and
continually evolve and refine programs for teaching and learning. There is
some tenuous liaison between architects and planners, but it is teachers are quite justifiably concerned with re-establishing a closer
correspondence between these two worlds. But the question immediately
usually only one-way with the planners briefing the architects through
arises as to which direction the schools might take. To become even
pre-conceived zoning regulations and financing programs. The planners
receive very little in return from the architects, because the more subject to the world of business and finance, to be developed as a
research arm to the war and space industries, on the one hand;
communication and administration systems are not organized to work
while on the other, continuing to drift on the land-locked sea of academic
that way. In the same way the educators and the administrators of education
irreality, retreating further into the selva oscura of academic titles,
instruct both planners and architects in an uninflected monologue.
tenures and precedence, and other trivia; or to reassume a position of
In addition, in all three disciplines, Education itself has too long
responsibility for the continuing evolution of Western society.
been a preserve of bureaucracy. The consequent atrophying of the
It is our purpose in this writing to suggest possible directions for
educational part of Education is not at all sup rising when form, size, cost,
education in general and for the architecture of education in particular.
location and content have all been left largely to the unimaginative,
These can be summed up in the idea of an Education Bazaar, or
often incompetent minority which administers for us. The thorny
the City as Education.
wood of Academe is jealously guarded by the lynxes, lions and she-wolves
of bureaucracy. And intellectual speculation-which is not
II. The removal of barriers Education, teaching and learning, has long been considered as a staged
necessarily idle but could be profitable-about what schools, or
progression from a presumed state of no knowledge to a certified
non-schools, might be is pushed farther and farther into the future,
where it perishes. state of sufficient knowledge, at which point formal education stops. In
point of fact, neither of these states exists. Although one can say
The student rebellion (it is not yet a revolution) is based on solid,
that education does start somewhere in the womb, it is presumptuous to
tangible griefs, as well as feeding on a general sense of disillusionment
assume that it stops, or that a certificate can give assurance as to
with an affluent, strongly-differentiated, typically colonialist society.

116 117
 sufficiency of knowledge . Diplomas and degrees give no true indication to their best advantage , as perceived by themselves. Moreover,
of intell igence or capacity (beyond the ability to play the academic courses and programs may be varied at will, at the will of those most
gam_e); and , with the increase in the quantity of cand idatures to be concerned in them , i.e., the participants.
processed and the general adoption of such techniques as the multiple- The era of the structured course, leading to the creation of highly-
choice examination, the granting of degrees, which i~ply a degree trained, one-sided monsters, would be over; and the artificial
of excellence or competence, has tended to become meaningless, or opposition between "Science" and " Art," which it secreted, could
worse , pernicious. These prizes, the brass rings on the academic safely be neutralized.
merry-go-round, destroy the education expe rience and in no way may be
said to enhance or enlarge the knowledge gained during the Ill. The city as a school;
process. They also tend to discredit the institutions which grant them , Th e school as the city With the revision of academic structures, as suggested above, where the
since they must obvious ly devaluate as quantity increases. In a wo rld of entire system becomes adaptable to the needs of the entire world
" mas t ers, " w hat d oes " mas t er " mean? We would maintain that and where a global viewpoint can be reflected in the education
the only degrees which still have a ce rtain value are those honoris causa process, urbanism and education come together. Education will become
certificates which are a necessary adjunct of fund-raising campaigns. a necessary part of the physical milieu . As the places of teaching
They represent money. and learning are opened spiritually to all , so will they be opened
A f irst recommendation , then, for the future of formal education in the physically. Schools will no longer be simple destinations in the systems
Western world is to deformalize it through the abolition of academic of circulation , holes in the fabric of the public domain , but will form
and professio.nal degrees. This drastic move would have the immediate an integral part of those systems and of that domain. The cyclone fence ,
and probably salutary effect of decreasing the cost of education to the user. which is the physical counterpart of the high- or grade-school diploma,
The higher priced institution , where tu ition and fees are often a will also disappear as the university extends its beneficent
reflection of prestige , would no longer need to limit admissions through environment into the city and the city in turn reanimates the university.
the use of financial thresholds, since the attraction exercised by a degree The city itself, which is the natural habitat of Western man , ~the school,
from " X " would no longer exist. The abolition of degrees would cause a college, university. We see the city as the total school, not the
certain revision of academic structures, naturally, and perhaps all school as a "micro -community." Places of teaching and learning, when
of these changes cannot be pred icted. But it seems reasonable to suppose they can be identified as such , are an integral part of the structure
that the net result would be beneficial to the extension, dissemination of cities. (By structure we mean, of course, the activities which take place
and utilisation of knowledge in all its fields, hence, beneficial to the in the city and the relationships between them , more than the
society as a whole. One result would be to open the institutions to people specific geometric patterns or the servicing systems. The patterns and
of all ages-for as long as they would profit from more exposure systems are conceived to accommodate those activities and
to the knowledge thus made available to them or for as little as relationships. The cities represent the future of Western society, and
they might choose. schools represent the future of cities. City and school intertwine to an
One may speculate that the removal of such academic barriers as ---
inextricable degree. Teaching and learning are qlso performing arts, and
primary and secondary school diplomas or certificates and college and the city is the theatre of these performances. And just as the other
university degrees would permit the highest quality in education performing arts tend to become stilted and remote when isolated,
to pervade the entire structure . In a sense, this would be equivalent to as in Lincoln Center, so does Education lose its relevancy by
extending the university down into the primary school system so being locked up in ivory towers. The theatre of our time is in the streets.
that, once the basic skills are acquired , the student may venture into an Education , then , is urbanism. And urbanism is everybody 's business,
educational field , within which he may virtually choose his own path as is education. The degree of integration of education and urbanism is
and his own patterns of development. Those educators who are related to the degree of integration of things and people in the
competent andin-clined to do so will provide skilled guidance for the city. lfthe schools are part of or, at least, extensions of the public domain,
the students and professors to organize the processes of education they belong to everyone and are open to all. The city belongs to

118 119
 everyone, too. We believe that people are concerned with cities and
This would argue against the concept of neighborhood- or community-
the quality of life in them and that they are concerned with schools and
oriented schools and in favor of a non-centric educational web
with the quality of education. We would suggest that there is a
in which, ideally, everything could be everywhere. Practically, such an
direct link between these. So that:
adaptable system would develop points or lines of more intensive
or specialized use ; but these would result from the citizen's wants and
Quality of education
needs and not from the planners' fiat. Since the system is to be
conceived of as being non-centric, becoming poly-centric through use, the
Quality of life in the city
possibility of further change and adaptation would be built-in
Structure of Society
and could be retained. The city is the school and is, at least in part,
organized by the schools. Part of the core of the city are the teaching and
in whic~ the social structure affects and reacts to both the quality of learning activities, and these are open to all.
educat1on and the quality of life. We know that all three are Such ideas, of course, are not new. The antimonastic approach
constantly changing. Our concern is whether we should seek to strengthen to education has been developing for centuries; and, indeed, what is here
or weaken the link between them, whether we should seek to control suggested is nothing more than a logical consequence of universal
the changes or allow them to occur spontaneously, or haphazardly. public education. The difficulty lies in the fact that such a program
of change could be either fantastically complex in its formulation and
IV. Man or animal? application or extremely simple. If the tenants of the established
If education is urbanism, we are faced with the planner's dilemma of
order of position are suffered to continue to impose their view of the
what is "community" . Is this another word for " nigger" ? Or is there in fact common interest (in the face of growing signs of dissent), then, of course,
a case to b e made for the subdivision of cities and societies into ' '
the evolution of any policy beyond token reforms will be extremely
comprehensible "turfs" and ethnic groups? We feel that there is no good arduous. If an "apres moi le deluge" stand is taken by some educators, as
case to be made for the encouragement of such subdivision and that would be expected, bUtt still a sufficient number were to adopt the
it is harmful, rather than helpful, to the function of the whole city
position that all is not for the best in the best of all possible worlds, then
and, therefore, to the quality of life in all parts of the city. It is the view of there is some hope that significant pressure may be directed to
the city as a jungle, with some clearings in it, where the lords of the
adapting present structures to present needs and to preparing future
jungle hold sway. It is a view which considers society in beastly
non-structures which will be open to future needs and which can
terms. We dare to think that this pessimistic, animalistic view of the city be formed and deformed by our successors as they see fit. "Structures"
as a compartmentalized series of querencias is erroneous and
and "non-structures" are here used in much the same way that we
only reflects the shortcomings of a present Western society. The
speak of schools and non-schools. What is intended by this
question of community, turf, querencia is of primary importance to our language is to suggest that the school system today, up to and including
thesis of the city as school. If there is any hope for the future of
the universities, is so sclerotic as to require total revision, which is
the city of man, then we may hope for the city as total scho6t--Jf it is to be tantamount to beginning again with organizations so different from those
the kingdom of beasts, where the suburban animals come out in the which we have known that they may well be called, by opposition,
daylight hours to make their meal off the city and slink back
"non-schools." Similarly, the urban structures which we know no longer
to cover in their dens when night makes the jungle unsafe, then we
contain our needs, nor do they correspond to the evolving goals
may equally say that the city is a school, although of quite different sort. which we can occasionally perceive. They have to do with real estate
It may, however, be possible to consider teaching and learning as the subdivision, for instance, and with primitive servicing systems,
"cultural " base of the city, in much the same way as we consider
neither of whi.ch are logically defensible today. We shall develop
~ndustry and trade as the economic base. In both cases we would hope, non-structures to organize our various activities in ways, places and
msofar as possible: to distribute the basic activities as equally as can be, buildings that relate more directly to a society which is in a state
throughout the ent1re urban world, and to optimize their accessibility. of becoming, that is, in ways that exhibit great potential for change.

120
121
Illustration of the Ideas Underlying the Concept of the Berlin and Dublin University Proposals.
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oro ~o
o
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.1
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~oo~~~1 A
1 The idea of university: the need 2 The university is composed of 3 The university as it seems to be:
rraa.v~~ ~0 ~ 1
for and exchange of general individuals and groups, working buildings contribute to the
. ~0
and spec ial information. alone or together, in different isolation of specific disciplines.
disciplines. When individuals
work together they take on
new characteristics and develop
new needs.

A~, ....T,ow o"T'Io'loa. 1oa"' ott

UHIVKJ\.ITY

4 But the removal of built barriers 5 The relationship of group and

and the mixing of disciplines 6 The external expression of 7 We seek rather a system giving
individual must also be considered .
is not enough . differences in function (are the minimum organization
Areas of acivity and areas of
The group is meaningless when these as important as the necessary to an association of
tranquility must be provided.
there is no place for the simi larities?) and nostalgia disciplines. The specific
If the group is everywhere, there is for representative form also
individual. natures of different functions
no group because there is no
tends to segregate the university are accommodated within a
individual.
into specialized disciplines only. general framework which
;~~; 644
666 expresses university.
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c:,,, 0 0
0~0
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• .''x JDOOOODOOOC
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~~IMOf~. ~· FOIIt~
ro JDDDDDOD[
JDOOODDDOC
~ ..... Q41t""""Y Nee) "&T\'WITr The City as a School: schematic dia-
\50\."'nQM AMO EJIC:.M . . . (O,£ DISSOCU'TIOH
IIS\OGIATIOI1~ gram from a city planning propos~l
by Shadrach Woods for an exten.ston
8 In skyscraper type buildings 9 In a groundscraper organization (pop. 40,000) of the city of Caen m
disciplines tend to be segregated. 10 Tentative use of a minimum
greater possibilities of community
structuring system where individual
1961 . The activities which serve and
The re lati onship from one floor
and exchange are present without and group may determine support dwellings are organized into a
to another is tenuous, almost necessarily sacrificing any
fortuito us , passing through tranquility.
desirable relationships. linear center which becomes the .
M. I.T. holds that exciting things
the space machine lift.
can and do happen when a mind
comprehensible structure of the ctty.
from one discipline encounters Schools , shops and social service
a mind from another. buildings dominate the structure. The
It has no compunction about schools in this program are small and
shifting departments around
as one discipline flourishes and
range from the ecole maternelle
another begins to wither. (nursery) to the college d'e~seignement
The physical corollaries of these general (high school). The linear
ideas are maximum linkage
center, or stem, is serviced from ~ach
between buildings and maximum
side by roads leading into it ~ut IS A =IIC E-DUCATIONAL FACILITIES

•
flexibility within them.

-·----
Architectural Forum June 1964 reserved for pedestrians, formmg a safe,
B ANCILLARIES
traffic-free zone. In such a system one
can imagine a constantly adaptable
educational experience with diffe.rent
c COMMERCE
constellations of places for teachmg
and learning being formed and
D -----
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DWELLINGS

modified by the participants. PE...DE.STRIAN PAT~

122 123
 The School as a City: Perspective drawing and partial plan of a proposal
for the new facilities of University College Dublin, made in 1964
by Sh~drach Woods, Joachim Pfeufer and Maurice Hogan. In this
scheme the University needs have been combined into a continuous
building complex which is organized in a grid of enclosed pedestrian ways
serving teaching and learning spaces on two levels. The ground
J floor of this complex gives access to the more active zones,
where people meet and work in groups; the upper floor contains more
tranquil areas where work is carried out individually. The levels
are connected by ramps. Interior courts give light and air to _
the circulation and work spaces. This type of organization has also
been used in the Free University extension plan in West Berlin (model
photo), designed by Shadrach Woods and Manfred Schiedhelm
and currently under construction. Its analogies to the city are obvious,
the circulation system being the streets, the active ground floor
corresponding to the shops and other places of exchange. In
order to function well such systems need, as in the Berlin University
extension, to be complemented by a technological vocabulary
that permits easy and continuous adaptation to changing needs. Spaces
can be modified, divided or integrated by moving the partitions, the
outer envelope ofthe building ~an easily be transformed to
correspond to internal changes, and the entire structure is demountable
and re-usable to permit even greater changes in the organization
of space.

124
125