School sweet school: Boarding schools and the design process evolution of a traditional educational space in Brazil from the 19th to the 21st century

Since the middle age, boarding schools represent a traditional built environment where dwelling and education functions are interconnected. As a portrait of society, political, and religious power, they also reveal the temporal context’s interference in the design process. Educational spaces represent an area where architecture has the power to change the user’s life. In Brazil, between the 19th and 20th centuries, given the lack of schools, they were the educational option for the ruling and wealthy classes, reinforcing a social hierarchy. The neoclassical European building style was used as a symbol for a rigid education model. Nowadays, despite being a system associated with words like punishment and harassment due to the poor distribution of schools in the Brazilian territory, boarding schools continue to mean opportunities for professional and social growth for many low-income students in rural locations and needy communities. Responding to those needs and changing old perceptions, an innovative project process has been implemented with the users’ participation. It has shown a crucial role in the success of the project. This study aims to examine the evolution of educational building spaces, in particular the classrooms. To succeed as a project, innovation in architectural models and processes can be proposed for traditional multifunctional spaces to better respond to users’ needs.