The Classroom: From the Late 19th Century until the Present Day

Taking as its epigraph the architect Hans Scharoun´s aphorism that "young people want to be inspired, not taught," The Classroom shows how furniture designers from the late nineteenth century to the present have strived to enliven the classroom experience for children, telling for the first time the history of this neglected area of furniture design. The book is based on the collection of the VS school museum in Tauberbischofsheim, which houses a unique collection of school furniture from Germany and abroad. Through this collection, it draws out the fascinating tale of educational theory and school architecture over the past hundred years, tracing the ascent of a child-centered approach to education and attendant developments in design, as well as such topics as the use of propaganda in Soviet- and Nazi-era schools. Chairs, desks, classrooms and entire schools by Alvar Aalto, Arne Jacobsen, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Jean-Baptiste Mathon, Jean Prouvé, Eero + Eliel Saarinen and Bruno Taut are abundantly illustrated and examined. The Classroom looks back over this history and looks forward to possible future developments.