ARCHITECTURE OF COGNITIVE STIMULATION: SCHOOL DESIGN

Abstract

Human beings are intricate, from genetic makeup to perception and response, every individual withholds different characteristics. Every entity somehow affects and is affected by the other. Nothing is a completely isolated fact without causes or effects hence no aspect of the total can exist ultimately apart from the total. Humans are instinctively interdependent beings who learn most through interaction and physical engagement with their environment. The thesis will investigate architecture as a facilitator for human learning through "stimulus environments" which supports individualism and a variety of spontaneous learning activities in form of a school. The human mind is designed to learn, adapt, explore, question and react to stimuli within the environment. Architecture here becomes the medium of channeling this energy. It involves study of the process of appropriation of architectural space and how it makes balance between permanence and change. The thesis aims at exploring the idea of spontaneous use and the creation of spaces that can be appropriated by the users, recognizing the relationship between form and social behavior. Architecture which stimulates and encourages a variety of uses and is adaptable to change by physically engaging students to promote multiple learning possibilities.