ABSTRACT
In the early 20th century, the typical American public-school classroom was a nearly closed box with insufficient lighting, student desks secured to the floor in orderly ranks facing the teacher and inadequate air circulation. Students’ health and learning ability suffered in these difficult circumstances. This chapter explains how some educators, physicians and reformers responded by enlisting architects to create healthier classrooms with improved lighting and air circulation. It focuses on the architectural concept of the classroom as a multi-windowed, healthy ‘pavilion’ with abundant natural light and fresh air. Specifically, the story of how design innovations like bilateral lighting and improved airflow merged with a concurrent revolution in school furniture to overcome traditional design and pedagogical practices is told within the context of a larger movement to institutionalise better health practices like mandatory vaccinations and medical inspection of school buildings. The chapter also proposes that the pavilion classroom model contributed to the creation of progressive classrooms by allowing non-directionality in student seating: the pavilion classroom's equal distribution of light and air combined with lightweight, movable desks, tables and chairs to form a physical environment more conducive to progressive active learning techniques and casual teacher–student interactions.
