The educationalization of school architecture in Switzerland between 1840 and 1950

Abstract

This paper analyses and contrasts the evolution of school architecture competitions, selected submitted projects and built schoolhouses, programmatic and professional literature, school building exhibitions and public reactions to them aiming at answering the following research question: How did architecture competitions, educational reforms and programmatic or professional literature contribute to the educationalization of the school building between 1835 and 1950 in Switzerland? The question will be approached from a perspective of educationalization, knowledge transfer and circulation between professional and political knowledge or discourses on education and practices of architecture competitions by contextualizing school building reform discourses within general school and education reform processes. The evolution of school building architecture competitions in Switzerland and the participation of a variety of actors demonstrate how the school building became a co-educator, how historical building designs are constantly naturalised to fit reform programs, and the relevance of calls for tender as source for the history of education.