Why teach children about architecture and the built environment?

Please note: This article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and references may be outdated.

Why teach children about architecture and the built environment?

Because they shape the future and because they already change our architecture and define the public realm everyday through their actions. Learning about architecture and the built environment should not only be attached to lessons in geometry or history which help us to understand what a building looks like and why it looks like it does. We should engage teachers and pupils in a wider discussion of what a building or space does for its users and its local context. We should explore how to instigate, shape and sustain the activities and relationships which occur as a result of the architecture.

The aim would be firstly to enable children to realize their inherent knowledge and experience of the public realm and secondly to equip them with methods to contribute positively to...