School buildings are among the most complex design, planning and construction projects for architects. They are also closely linked to the educational concepts and the cultural and spatial ideas of the era in which they were built. The monograph by AFF Architects presents new typologies.
New Schools on the Block, ed. by AFF Architekten, 336 pages, Park Books, Zürich 2026
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New Schools on the Block brings together a decade of practical experience in school design by the AFF Architekten collective, which operates between Berlin and Lausanne and comprises architects, researchers and craftspeople. AFF views schools not merely as places of learning, but also as spaces for identity formation. This gives rise to the ambition to create buildings that, through the interplay of form and function, open up spaces for experience that foster a sense of identity. The multitude of floor plan studies presented in this book invites the reader to mentally visualise spaces as they look at them. A look at the completed school buildings shows that even a handrail or a toilet block can be educational.
Erweiterungsbau Arndt-Gymnasium, Berlin // Extension building, Arndt-Gymnasium, Berlin © Davin Meckel
New Schools on the Block is a typological collection featuring floor plans and photographs of 40 school building designs from the practice of AFF Architects in Berlin, Göttingen, Cologne, Mannheim, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Bielefeld, Kassel, Darmstadt, as well as in Näfels, Geneva and Fribourg. Photographs of the surroundings, entrance areas, stairwells, classrooms, break areas and storage rooms provide a wealth of visual material. A comic strip by the artist and illustrator Peter ‘Auge’ Lorenz on everyday school life adds an extra touch of realism.
Treppenhaus, Ernst-Abbe-Gymnasium, Berlin © Hans-Christian Schink
Ein historischer Rückblick in den Schulhausbau, Perspektiven auf zeitgenössische Schularchitektur sowie ein Gespräch mit AFF bilden den textlichen Hintergrund, durch den die Entwürfe von AFF Architekten eingeordnet werden.
New Schools on the Block
ed. by AFF Architekten
Zürich 2026
broshure,
336 pages, 137 illustrations in collour und 171 b/w
Format: 25 x 30 cm
Park Books
Zürich 2026
ISBN 9783038604709
Treppenhaus, Ernst-Abbe-Gymnasium, Berlin © Hans-Christian Schink
