SCHOOL WITHOUT CLASSROOMS | BERLIN

What if we lived in an age where school and learning was not systemized but optimized ?

What if the school had no grades, subjects and books ?

What if the classrooms did not mean a four-walled cubicle ?

What if the process and hierarchy of the schooling-setup was never there ?

What if there was more to the static architecture style of a schooling environment ?

We seem to have forgotten that schools are the real 'Temples of Innovation' that shape children of the future. Schools are supposed to be 'fun' places that inspire wonder, creativity and innovation through the teaching and learning. Schools should offer welcoming environments that instil in us confidence to pursue our dreams and interests. Pedagogy i.e. the art of teaching faces a real test in today's times for it has remained very stagnant and rigid in its discourse. Innovation in methods and practices of education has been slow and very limited. In most of the countries, schools have adopted a very general, mechanical and theoretical system of education that minutely focuses on problem solving, practical and experimental methods and most importantly, personal interests of children. Schooling environment, since the industrial revolution has done very less to revamp their gloomy, colourless, isolating and lifeless spaces.

Brain development between ages 5 and 12 is significant and understood. Cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists are intrigued with how cognitive capacities are affected by the architectural attributes and spatiality of a school environment. Architecture affects our intellect and emotions, influences our performance and motivates achievement — mostly on a subliminal basis. Classrooms are also called 'third teachers' for their impact on the learning process just in terms of spatiality.

The competition seeks the creation of a middle school (age group 5-12) that completely negates the present day 'bench-table-chalkboard' idea of a classroom and a regularized building typology of a school. The competition seeks to radicalize the school system through architecture not only in terms of improving the quality of study environment but revamping the system and breaking all the physical and metaphorical class divisions into an entirely new school system. The competition seeks ideas from participants to create a fun built environment for a middle school that understands the individual needs of each child yet being very collaborative in nature. The school should strive to create a new pedagogical space that emphasizes on people-oriented design in behavioral terms as they interact and use spaces.

Berlin is the 21st century contemporary world's ideal capital. The city left its torrid history behind to quickly grow and cement itself into the intellectual and cultural core of the world. Berlin is the epicenter of any new movement that starts to demolish the old world order. The site for the competition is located in Templehof, Berlin and aims to create an exemplary prototype for all the new world schooling systems to follow.

Schedule

• Start of Competition and Early Registration: 1st April 2016
• Early Registration ends: 31st May 2017
• Standard Registration starts: 1st June 2017
• Deadline for Questions: 10th June 2017
• Standard Registration ends: 29th June 2017
• Closing day for Submissions 30th June 2017
• Announcement of Winners: 24th July 2017

*Note: All deadlines are 11:59 pm - 00:00 IST (India).

Awards

Winning participants will receive prizes totaling INR 2,00,000 with the distribution as follows:

First prize- INR 1,00,000/- + Certificate

Second prize- INR 60,000/- + Certificate

Third prize- INR 40,000/- + Certificate

10 Honorable mentions

Winners and honorable mentions will be published on archasm’s website and several international architecture magazines and websites partnered by us.

Registration

Early Registration:

From 1st April 2017 to 31st May 2017

• For Indian nationals- INR 1500 (per team)
• For Foreign nationals- EUR 60 (per team)

Standard Registration:

From 1st June 2017 to 29th June 2017

• For Indian nationals- INR 1800 (per team)
• For Foreign nationals- EUR 80 (per team)

Entrants may register by filling the registration form and submitting it with the appropriate payment through our secure gateway on our website www.archasm.in

Discount

Group discounts apply for a minimum of 5 teams from one particular architecture school/university as our initiative to promote more participation from students.

Send us the following details at [email protected] to avail the offer.

• Names of all the participating teams members and their respective team leaders.
• Name of the university.
• School ID proofs of the team leaders.

Note:

It will not be possible to amend or update any information relating to your registration including the names of team members once validated.

Regulations

• Participant teams will be disqualified if any of the competition rules or submission requirements are not considered. Participation assumes acceptance of the regulations.
• Team code is the only means of identification of a team as it is an anonymous competition.
• The official language of the competition is English.
• The registration fee is non-refundable.
• Contacting the Jury is prohibited.
• archasm as the competition organizer, reserves the right to modify the competition schedule if deemed necessary.

Terms and Conditions

Please see the terms and conditions section on www.archasm.in.

Competition project disclaimer

This is an open international competition hosted by archasm to generate progressive design ideas. There are no plans for the middle school to be built. The competition is organized for education purpose only.

Other details

Website: www.archasm.in

Facebook: www.facebook.com/atarchasm

Instagram: www.instagram.com/archasm_competitions/