Thread by @anniemurphypaul

I've been reading a fascinating new book that is all about how the SPACES in which teachers and students operate affect the learning that takes place there. It includes one of my favorite anecdotes about the role of physical space in our thinking processes. 1/8

After the British House of Commons was severely damaged by German bombs in 1941, Winston Churchill weighed in on plans for the reconstruction of the building, writes the book's co-editor, Thomas Kvan, in an introductory essay. 2/8

Churchill believed that the reconstructed room should retain its rectangular shape, arguing that "the narrow rectilinear form of the chamber forced debaters to take clear positions, unlike a semi-circular space that facilitated subtle nuances by displacements along an arc." 3/8

"He argued too that there should be fewer seats than members, so that there were no reserved seats. Members had to respond to circumstances in their seating arrangements, and hence could not
retreat behind convention but would engage in spontaneous conversation." 4/8

"At key moments, the space would be overcrowded, the overcrowding itself adding urgency to the debate underway," reports Kvan of Churchill's vision for the chamber. 5/8

In his comments, Churchill was acknowledging that the arrangement of physical space was an "essential component" of "the particular practice of British parliamentary democracy."

Hence his famous comment: "We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us." 6/8

Another chapter later in the book notes "the primordial hold that the Industrial Age classroom has taken in school design for over a century."

So little thought has been given to the way our educational spaces "shape us," and shape the experiences we have within them. 7/8

Here is Thomas Kvan's essay: link.springer.com/chapter/10.100…

And the book in which it appears: link.springer.com/book/10.1007/9…

8/8