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THE DESIGN OF A SCHOOL expresses an
attitude towards education. The traditional
classroom, with its regimented rows of desks
all facing forward, reflects a unidirectional
style of schooling, with the teacher dispens-
ing facts, not fun. What to make then of
WeGrow, a school for kids from three to nine
located in New York’s Chelsea neighbour-
hood. Designed by BIG, the 930-m^2 ‘learning
landscape’ features islands of stacked cush-
ions, upholstered ‘rocks’ and curvy wooden
pods. Another contemporary example is
Rockwell Group’s new Blue School in Lower
Manhattan, where LED-lit planters grow food
for lunch and every classroom has a brightly
coloured multipurpose platform dubbed an
‘urban porch’.
Unlike their traditional counterparts,
both schools, which opened their doors in
September 2018, resemble ‘creative work-
spaces’, thanks to a variety of places to sit or
lounge, cosy private nooks, and public are-
nas for collaboration and chance encounters.
Such flexibility is intended to embody edu-
cation’s new aspiration: inquiry-based learn-
ing, which is less about passively absorbing
information and more about actively doing
things with the knowledge acquired.
While the approach taken by many
of the latest schools isn’t completely new
(Maria Montessori and others pioneered
child-centred education early in the 20th
century), the 21st-century slant stresses the
pursuit of creativity and innovation – the
vital ingredients of our new technology-
led economy. Naturally, then, the design of
today’s more attention-demanding schools
is a departure from the look and feel of the
traditional school, and a nod in the direction
of tech start-ups-turned-giants.
Partly motivating the new aesthetic
is the spatial convergence of home, work,
health and now education. WeGrow, signifi-
cantly, is the first school from $20-billion »
WEGROW, NYC
BIG’s design for WeGrow revolves
around an open-plan classroom
and multifunctional furniture able
to accommodate a diverse range
of activities, including play, yoga,
dance, athletics and martial arts,
not to mention old-time school
activities like reading.
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