Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Spaces Offering Creative Potential



One of our spaces limitations is the clean walls that cant be damaged.
This limits what you can attach to them and restricts our actions.
However it also means we have to improvise through lighter structures, free-standing ones, create without needing walls. Perform, run etc.
Building a rainforest in a primary school together with teaching assistants there were only a few potential places to attach string across the room using water pipes or use staple gun.
Perhaps all classrooms should be lined with hooks around the walls for such a purpose.
Visiting a secondary School this week the rooms seemed even more restrictive in their potential for change and so restricts explorative, creative activity in changing a space for whatever purpose.
The teaching has reduced potential for departing from the desk and chair scenario plus the constant changing of classes also hampers this.
A field trip / visit is regarded as a significant part of learning in new / different surroundings and yet high schools must predominantly function in very limited ways.
While it seems accepted that people learn in different ways to varying degrees it seems to be ignored that the space itself plays a significant physical and symbolic role in this.

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