February 14, the Romanov Dvor will host an Urban Talks discussion on "School architecture as a tool for individual development". UWC Dilijan, an international school built by RD Group, is one of the case studies to be discussed by the experts.
The timing of the event is no accident: Russia has a shortage of schools, and is in the middle of a major school building programme. However, while the main concern for the authorities is the financial aspect (how to build the largest number of schools cheaply and quickly), the priorities from the children's point of view are completely different.
Russian and international experts will discuss how school architecture affects children's behaviour and development, how to create school spaces that are comfortable and interesting, whether architecture can be an effective tool for individual development, and how to apply the latest advances in human science to school design.
One of the case studies on the agenda is UWC Dilijan, an international school in Armenia built by RD Group to a design by Britain's Tim Flynn Architects and opened in 2014. UWC Dilijan College is the first international boarding school in Eastern Europe and the CIS, and has pupils from 72 countries. In addition, the school is the first development in Armenia to achieve certification according to BREEAM green building standards.
The event will be attended by Sergey Kuznetsov, Chief Architect of Moscow, and Tatiana Vasileva, Deputy Head of the Moscow Government Department of Education. The participants in the discussion will also include Tim Flynn, Director and Founder of Tim Flynn Architects, Mikhail Mokrinsky, Head Teacher at Letovo boarding school, Niyaz Gafiyatullin, Head Teacher at the International School of Kazan, Mark Sartan, Project Leader and General Director of Smart School, and Marina Bityanova, Director of Tochka PSY, a center for psychological support in education.The discussion will be moderated by Strelka KB partner Alexey Muratov.
The event is being jointly organised by the Moscow Urban Forum and international holding company RD Group.