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These sorts of schools were modeled after prisons (and actually were designed by the same people designing prisons). Architecture that looks bad is effectively

These sorts of schools were modeled after prisons (and actually were designed by the same people designing prisons). Architecture that looks bad is effectively communicating to its occupants what the institution running it thinks of them and what the institution is about. If you model it like a prison, then think about what this communicates and internalizes. Before the prison/factory campus came into existence, we did have beautiful schools. And they're still standing.

giantg2 2y ago
"These sorts of schools were modeled after prisons (and actually were designed by the same people designing prisons)." TFA says this is mostly legend more than fact. "Before the prison/factory campus came into existence, we did have beautiful schools. And they're still standing." This is survivor bias and tends to include expensive private schools and higher education. Most of those designs have similar "negative" features that the article describes as many of them are gothic, built in a time when glass was limited in size or expense, etc. "If you model it like a prison, then think about what this communicates and internalizes." Have the kids spent time in a prision? If the kids don't have a baseline for a what a prison is like, then this conjecture about what it communicates is moot as the fundamental exchange of the idea isn’t present. People reiterating that they are built like prisons are more detrimental than the design itself.
- cjbgkagh 2y ago
  You see prison on TV even as a child. remember the first time I saw my US high school in person and my first thought was that it was clearly a prison inspired design. They had an interior balcony where the each level was viewable from each other level. Unlike a mall the walls were opaque and each door identical with a number. If the school was properly organized it could be in an actual prison for all would have cared. I think de-streaming is far worse than bad decor.
nemo44x 2y ago
It's because they're built by tax dollars and the last thing you want to do is be seen to be wasting tax dollars on frivolous things. Nice private schools look great because the clientele expects that and pays for that aesthetic. Also consider that often the highest tax payers and most influential people in a community won't send their kids to the local school so have no interest in having higher taxes fund a nice building. I'm not saying that's good or bad, just that it is. > Before the prison/factory campus came into existence, we did have beautiful schools. And they're still standing. The nice ones are. There are likely many old school buildings that were cheaply constructed and didn't stand the test of time. The nice old school building in my town had to have hundreds of millions of dollars put into it because it didn't have AC, a staircase collapsed, and about 100 other serious issues that needed addressing to modernize it. Our community voted YES to funding it through a raise in property taxes but our community is already affluent and the town did a good job specifying exactly what the money would be spent on. So it costs money and often times people don't see the value in that.
- giantg2 2y ago
  Most private schools by numbers are religiously affiliated and relatively plain. Many are in older buildings. The newer ones have mostly the same design of corridors with identical classrooms. "The nice ones are. There are likely many old school buildings that were cheaply constructed and didn't stand the test of time." Yes, that's what survivor bias means.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - nemo44x 2y ago
    > Yes, that's what survivor bias means. I understand that which is why I described it to a person that appeared to not be familiar with it. I wasn’t speaking to you though. So I’m not sure why you’re replying to me about it lol.

giantg2 2y ago

"These sorts of schools were modeled after prisons (and actually were designed by the same people designing prisons)." TFA says this is mostly legend more than fact. "Before the prison/factory campus came into existence, we did have beautiful schools. And they're still standing." This is survivor bias and tends to include expensive private schools and higher education. Most of those designs have similar "negative" features that the article describes as many of them are gothic, built in a time when glass was limited in size or expense, etc. "If you model it like a prison, then think about what this communicates and internalizes." Have the kids spent time in a prision? If the kids don't have a baseline for a what a prison is like, then this conjecture about what it communicates is moot as the fundamental exchange of the idea isn’t present. People reiterating that they are built like prisons are more detrimental than the design itself.

cjbgkagh 2y ago
You see prison on TV even as a child. remember the first time I saw my US high school in person and my first thought was that it was clearly a prison inspired design. They had an interior balcony where the each level was viewable from each other level. Unlike a mall the walls were opaque and each door identical with a number. If the school was properly organized it could be in an actual prison for all would have cared. I think de-streaming is far worse than bad decor.

nemo44x 2y ago

It's because they're built by tax dollars and the last thing you want to do is be seen to be wasting tax dollars on frivolous things. Nice private schools look great because the clientele expects that and pays for that aesthetic. Also consider that often the highest tax payers and most influential people in a community won't send their kids to the local school so have no interest in having higher taxes fund a nice building. I'm not saying that's good or bad, just that it is. > Before the prison/factory campus came into existence, we did have beautiful schools. And they're still standing. The nice ones are. There are likely many old school buildings that were cheaply constructed and didn't stand the test of time. The nice old school building in my town had to have hundreds of millions of dollars put into it because it didn't have AC, a staircase collapsed, and about 100 other serious issues that needed addressing to modernize it. Our community voted YES to funding it through a raise in property taxes but our community is already affluent and the town did a good job specifying exactly what the money would be spent on. So it costs money and often times people don't see the value in that.

giantg2 2y ago
Most private schools by numbers are religiously affiliated and relatively plain. Many are in older buildings. The newer ones have mostly the same design of corridors with identical classrooms. "The nice ones are. There are likely many old school buildings that were cheaply constructed and didn't stand the test of time." Yes, that's what survivor bias means.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- nemo44x 2y ago
  > Yes, that's what survivor bias means. I understand that which is why I described it to a person that appeared to not be familiar with it. I wasn’t speaking to you though. So I’m not sure why you’re replying to me about it lol.