by Peter Bachmann
The need to create outdoor spaces in higher education has always existed, but it was not until 2020 that the possibilities for future use were expanded, largely out of necessity. On campus, when it was no longer safe to congregate indoors, classes and gatherings were forced outside. Historically, outdoor amenities provided campus identity, often created as symbolic gestures to welcome visitors and students or provide informal gathering places. The use of and appreciation for outdoor spaces, and how they connect to learning and campus buildings, has been transformed in the wake of the pandemic and will continue to evolve as designers anticipate the future needs of this sphere.
As has happened in other disciplines, the pandemic accelerated forces already in play in the design of outdoor space. Driven by the universal need to build and maintain community, we are seeing a significantly more engaged stakeholder consensus process yielding designs that have far-reaching, positive educational impacts. A more engaged community results in spaces that speak to the diversity of cultures, program needs, and intellectual thought on campus.
Outdoor spaces have not only become places where classes might be held but teaching tools in their own right. Architects and designers are strategically positioning these communal spaces immediately adjacent to relevant college buildings, providing immediate access. Outdoor spaces are becoming extensions of their adjacent buildings’ pedagogical programs. Not only are they provided with robust technology and connectivity but also create opportunities to connect teaching and learning to the outdoors, providing for a fluidity of ideas while overcoming the chasm between inside and outside.
The placement of outdoor spaces is also important. In the seasonal Northeast, the pandemic forced institutions to consider how to move programming outside – certainly in warm weather, but also in the shoulder seasons of early fall and late spring. Solar orientation of outdoor spaces along with the ability to provide shade and shelter when needed further extends seasonal utility, allowing educational use through substantially more days of the year. Designers are adopting this stratagem when conceptualizing how modern campuses will be planned. Some of these new spaces have become so beautiful, flexible, and practical that they have become registrar-assignable teaching spaces.
As universities and colleges see the possibilities of outdoor spaces beyond what the pandemic forced them to consider, higher-education architecture will evolve to include more intentional spaces that vastly improve genuine learning and the overall campus experience.
Peter Bachmann
Peter Bachmann is principal at JCJ Architecture.
