Cool for School: Design Movement on Campus by Taiwan Design Research Institute

“Schools have rarely been associated with functionality and aesthetics. Instead, many campuses in Asian countries are characterized by square classrooms with old, creaky desks, peeling white walls, and dull fluorescent lights,” opens the Taiwan Design Research Institute. “As we enter the era of technology and artificial intelligence, education is evolving rapidly. Schools are increasingly embracing diversity and inclusion, empowering students to engage with the world through curiosity, creativity, confidence, and kindness, while also helping them discover their unique talents. From blackboards to wearable technology, education has undergone significant transformations over the past 50 years.”

Designed to transform campuses in Taiwan, Design Movement on Campus is Taiwan’s first large-scale collaboration between the design industry, the educational system, and the Taiwanese government, through the Taiwan Design Research Institute (TDRI).

TDRI shares that the initiative began in 2019 following a noticeable lack of diverse, open learning, and user-friendly environments that respond to contemporary trends and needs. The study team recognized that introducing design thinking and turning schools into well-designed places would be necessary to transform teaching and learning methods.

Since then, the project has worked with 91 schools throughout Taiwan, emphasizing aesthetics and innovation. “It not only demonstrates new public aesthetics by optimizing the user experience and design thinking but also explores opportunities for design professionals to participate in public affairs, establishing participation and matching mechanisms.” The initiative has been recognized in over 50 global awards, including the Good Design, iF, and the Golden Pin Design Award.

Pioneering Aesthetic and Functionality Changes

Design Movement on Campus has significantly evolved over the past five years, addressing a range of subjects that shape the educational design landscape while consistently introducing new elements to inspire, challenge, and transform learning.

The fifth edition marks a new phase in co-creation, focusing on four key pillars: collaborative approaches to curriculum and design; student participation; learning environments and trends; and prioritizing educational innovation through new models. These focus on mental and physical well-being, special education, and counseling services, helping to enhance the overall learning experience.

Through transformations of the environment, old campuses and learning sites can meet the modern values and trends of education. TDRI believes schools should be for more than book-based learning. Rather, it pictures well-designed spaces that inspire the imagination of teachers and students, innovate teaching models; change traditional teacher-student relationships and life education; fundamentally solve problems in the campus environment; and create expectations for a better living and learning environment for the next generation.

As we look to the future, the question arises: What will education look like in the next 5 to 10 years? Below are a few successful projects under the initiative. •

Turning Trash into Treasure: How Design Transformed a School’s Trash Area into an Award-Winning Space

Kaohsiung Guang Wu Elementary School in southern Taiwan completed the renovation of its resource and waste collection center last year, with its official opening in early April 2023.

The original resource and waste collection center was deemed the most unappealing space on campus, having dim lighting, poor ventilation, and inferior traffic flow planning. Students always wanted to avoid taking garbage to the tiny, smelly brick shed during the daily “cleaning time” after school. The center was next to the main entrance, which made the area look unpleasant. In addition, neighboring residents would secretly dump their trash in the shed, making the unhygienic situation even more problematic.

Design Movement on campus invited Meta House to redesign the trash and recycling area, aiming to transform the confined and disordered zone into an inviting, open zone.

The design team first reorganized the space by function, including the recycling zone, general waste disposal, working platform, cleaning tools storage, and cleaning area. This layout creates a more efficient and straightforward recycling process. Secondly, the team designed new classification icons for recycling to make resource sorting more intuitive and user-friendly. Nighttime lighting was also added to make the area a scenic part of the school and the neighborhood.

For the structure, Meta House applied a lightweight, neat wave-wall sequence to extend the landscape and round-shaped baffles to shield against wind and rain. The curved, transparent mesh surrounding the space helps eliminate foul odors through natural ventilation. Diverse plants were incorporated to enhance the existing greenery in the campus, reducing the oppressive aura of the area and providing a natural ecological learning platform for students.

The renovation may seem like a simple redesign case, but demonstrated the impact of campus design on daily education, as well as the possibility of elevating campus spaces using design thinking. The successful transformation has been recognized by the iF Design Award for Architecture and Public Architecture, the Golden Pin Design Award for Best Design of the Year, and the Good Design Award in 2024.

Resonance Field of Light and Sound: The Intersection of Design, Education, and Performance

The classroom is where students spend most of the day in school. Therefore, making it comfortable and functional should be a priority when considering renovation. Kuang Jen Catholic High School and Cloudform Laboratory, located in New Taipei City, showcased how a well-designed music classroom can achieve the necessary functionality while inspiring harmony and creativity.

The music classroom was utilized for music lessons and choir practice. However, its existing tables, chairs, and chorus platforms were old and unsuitable for modern teaching styles and student grouping, showing a lack of flexibility. The layout also caused lighting overexposure and echo interference in the room. 

The design team began by fulfilling the needs for two different modes of the space: classroom and performance. In the classroom mode, the center of the room can accommodate groups of desks and chairs, which can be removed during performances to make space for the stage. Each desk consists of ten modular panels made of specially selected acoustic boards, forming a thin panel that can be easily hung in the cabinets on the walls. The chairs can also be easily stored on the acoustic walls.

For the performance mode, a belt of stairs around the room is used as choir risers and podiums, or seats for the audience appreciating a performance on-stage at the center of the room. The flexible desks and tables generate a wider performance area. Two sound-absorbing window curtains are installed not only to shade the room from sunlight but also to create spatial separation between the front stage and the backstage by changing their positions for various purposes. 

Lighting control plays a significant role in performances. The redesigned music room is equipped with LED lights with multiple sets of loop switches that can be set up for zone control. The settings can be flexibly adapted to different locations in the space and create performance stage effects by providing the necessary level of brightness for each performance. The LED strip lights are installed along the curved curtain track to make the classroom more visually comfortable.

The renovation of the music classroom in Kuang Jen Catholic High School won the iF Design Award for Interior Architecture and Public Interiors and the Golden Pin Award for Spatial Design in 2024. It combines the concept of aesthetic education with performance art, offering a vivid space of melody and delight.

Curio Box Classrooms: How Taiwan Elementary is Transforming Spaces for Inclusive Education

Located in southern Taiwan’s Tainan City, Tainan Sinhua Elementary School embarked on a mission in 2023 to redesign its Special Education Sensory-Motor Training Classroom. The existing classroom is a 102-square-meter space that posed significant challenges for the special education teachers, as the conventional layout failed to meet their specific needs. Teachers required additional movable furniture and equipment to better support their students, but the lack of a proper storage system and cluttered, outdated playground tools compromised both safety and functionality. The classroom also called for the accommodation of activities from active play to quiet learning but the fixed and cumbersome furniture limited flexibility.

Tainan Sinhua Elementary School promotes “Inclusive Education” by organizing events like “Inclusive Education Days” and the “Angel Buddy Program.” These activities, such as building blocks and outdoor games, encourage regular students to engage with special education students. Special education students also need more help from teachers before and after lessons, so the classroom’s space and furniture must be safe, flexible, and efficient to meet their needs.

Inclusive Education in Action: The ‘Harmony Box Classroom’ Edutainment Experience of Creating Open Spaces and Welcoming Diversity

The ‘Harmony Box Classroom’ was designed by the team from YUNGCHEI & YU Architecture. They created a storage system inspired by the traditional concept of the “curio box,” aiming to optimize the use of classroom space. They divided the classroom into three areas: one for sports equipment, one for cooking and baking, and one for quiet lessons. The walls include movable tables and chairs, such as high tables with Lego walls, storage units at seating level, and small tables that can be assembled in different ways.

The design also includes fun icons to help teachers and students easily understand where items are stored, encouraging both organization and creativity. The goal is to create a space where students can naturally interact and learn together. The classroom even opens up to the corridor, with soft mats leading to eco-friendly wooden floors and seating areas. This seamless design connects indoor and outdoor spaces, making it a popular spot for all students at Tainan Sinhua Elementary School.

Partner content courtesy of Taiwan Design Research Institute

Taiwan Design Research Institute (TDRI) is a quasi-governmental entity that aims to promote and support national design development in Taiwan.  TDRI’s aim is to enhance Taiwan’s national competitiveness, foster social and industrial sustainability, and improve people’s lifestyles through design-driven innovation.