KIEAE Journal

In these days, the interior spaces are being used increasingly rather than the exterior spaces at elementary schools due to many kinds of social trends and the ratio of various kinds of exterior spaces against the interior ones is also decreasing gradually. The reasons are because it is hard to secure the areas of the exterior spaces due to the land prices increased within cities and various types of schools are being created, such as, building-type schools, etc. Currently, the exterior spaces of elementary schools can be considered as multi-purpose spaces essential for the development of children since such exterior spaces play roles of the spaces where students can do the leisure activities as well as the regular learning activities and can be used as the play spaces for the students resulting that their sociality is enhanced and such spaces can be used as the ones where a single person can enjoy some meditation.¹⁾ Such kinds of Exterior Spaces of Elementary Schools may play an important role as a public space of a city while many kinds of exterior spaces in a city have been diminished due to the expansion of the urban space. In addition, such exterior spaces provide citizens with various kinds of exterior spaces for staying and resting, etc. Various exterior spaces are used as a garden, a square, a playground and a vegetable garden, etc., at elementary schools.

For example, a playground is becoming a center of a community where village people play various activities by using such a playground after school. And also, the meaning of such a playground as a regional community facility is becoming more important since elementary school teachers provide the community residents with information, cultural activities and lifetime education, etc.

Like this, the exterior spaces of elementary schools are emerging as very important spaces as an alternative of a urban public exterior space essential for citizens due to the expansion of the downtown area in a city.

However, the current exterior spaces of elementary schools are composed of an urethane track and some asphalt concrete (‘ASCON’) which pollute the environment with much over-detected heavy metals and thus are not eco-friendly at all.²⁾

Accordingly, this study is intended to suggest an appropriate planning direction of an exterior space of the elementary schools in South Korea by investigating various kinds of elements of the exterior spaces different from the ones in South Korea while, as the analysis frame, using the physical environmental elements and eco-friendly elements which basically pass through all of eco-friendliness certification examinations focusing on many foreign elementary school cases rather than the ones in South Korea under the premise that the exterior spaces of elementary schools are very important places for the behavioral development of children.

As the study methods, first, the recent trend of studies on eco-friendly spaces of elementary schools which are being conducted through the reviews of the relevant literature and the features of the exterior spaces of elementary schools are examined. And the items of the Korean Eco-friendly Environment Certification Examination Criteria to be used as the analysis frame are reviewed and the types of the exterior spaces are classified. Second, the data on the architecture overview, the design concepts and various kinds of drawings, etc., of each building targeting many elementary schools in foreign countries were collected. And based on such data, the types of the exterior spaces of elementary schools are analyzed. Third, the physical environments and the eco-friendly features & elements of the exterior spaces in foreign countries based on the analyzed types.

In order to select some cases becoming the targets of this Study, the spacial scope is suggested focusing on the elementary school cases in foreign countries except for the Korean elementary schools and the time scope is suggested after collecting 8 foreign cases which were completed until now after 2000.

The previous studies related to eco-friendly schools are as follows. Those previous studies of this study were obtained by analyzing the academic articles related to architecture after having searched for the eco-friendly schools on the domestic articles search site, “DBPIA”.

The results from an analysis of the previous studies on eco-friendly schools are summarized as follows.

First, as the results from an analysis of the years when the previous studies were conducted, there were the most frequent studies from 2007 to 2013, but there were few studies on eco-friendly schools before 2007 and only one (1) study was conducted in 2014 and 2017 respectively after 2013. Thus, it is concluded that the studies on eco-friendly schools are rarely conducted recently.

Second, the most frequently studied themes were the ones related to the eco-friendliness certification in the previous studies taking 41.7% of share of the total themes and the evaluations after residing and case studies take 8.3% respectively. And there were various kinds of studies dealing with planning, sustainable schools, interior environment, biotope area ratio and design analysis, etc., which are dealt with as one theme in one study respectively.

Third, 91.7% of the spaces dealt with in the previous studies of the total number are the contents related to school structures and only 2 studies were on the interior spaces of schools. It was found that there were no studies on eco-friendly environments of the exterior spaces of schools.

Thus, as the results from an analysis of the previous studies, it was found that this study has a difference from those previous ones since this study is related to the schools that have not recently studied regarding to the eco-friendly environments, but is not related to the eco-friendly environment certification that has been dealt with as one theme in the most number of studies. In addition, it is considered that this study has its own value in the aspect that this examined the eco0-friendly exterior spaces, but not interior ones in the aspect of the space type studied.

The biggest features of the exterior spaces of elementary schools are as follows. First, it can be said that such spaces play a role as a public space in a city. As a city is being developed, the exterior spaces of each building are being diminished. And under the situation that a city has mainly many ultra-dense high-rise residential buildings due to the features of the Korean housing environment, the exterior spaces are being much more diminished.

Therefore, the roles of the exterior spaces of elementary schools are becoming bigger and bigger as various kinds of public spaces which can be used by citizens. As an example, a playground as mentioned above is used for the leisure and rest of citizens and community members while being opened on weekend while the students do not use it.

Second, during the period when many elementary schools which used to be designed in accordance with the standard designs in the past are becoming smaller and smaller as time goes by, the playground-centered exterior spaces of an elementary school and the area of the unit exterior area per capita has been excessively reduced. And also, the classification of spaces into the dynamic spaces (play yards and playgrounds, etc) and the static spaces (gardens and courtyards, etc) in the aspect of the functionality and the qualitative changes of the exterior spaces, such as, piloti, courtyard and rooftop, etc.

Third, young students spend very much time at elementary schools as the spaces which are used by young students and where the students learn various styles of social lives as well as studying. Therefore, the Korean government has prepared for many kinds of appropriate standards on the current eco-friendly environment levels and has made the acquisition of a certain level of eco-friendly environment certification for each area compulsory. And it can be said that the biggest party among the eco-friendly environment areas that a school must have is the exterior educational environment. Then, it is assumed that the educational effects related to eco-friendly environments shall be made directly to students.³⁾ Therefore, studies on the eco-friendly exterior spaces will play a very important role in the aspect mentioned above.

The eco-friendly elements based on the School Facilities Certification Examination Standards are broadly divided into 7 categories. 1. Land Use and Transportation, 2. Energy & Environment Pollution, 3. Materials & Resources, 4. Water Circulation Management, 5. Maintenance, 6. Ecological Environment and 7. Interior Environment. Among those categories mentioned above, this Study deals with only Ecological Environment. The contents of the exterior spaces of schools in that aspect are composed of as follows. 6.1. Creation of Some Greenland within a Parcel of Land (6.1.1. Creation of Connected Greenland Axis & 6.1.2. Natural Ground Greenland Rate), 6.2. Securing the Ecological Functions of Exterior Spaces and Building Envelopes (6.2.1. Ecological Area Rate), 6.3. Creation of the Habitats for Living Creatures (6.3.1. Creation of Biotope & 6.3.2. Creation of Ecological Learning Center), 6.4. Utilization of Natural Resources (6.4.1. Recycling Rate of Top Soil).⁴⁾ In this study, the eco-friendly environment certification area of our country shall be compared with foreign cases as an item which is analyzed in connection with the types of the exterior spaces of elementary schools.

Regarding to general exterior spaces, Mr. Asahara Yoshinobu considered 3 elements restricting architectural spaces as floor, wall and ceiling in his book named ‘A Sequel to the Esthetics of Exterior Spaces’ and he argued that such elements are used for distinguishing the interior spaces and the exterior ones and it is a method that the order of spaces going from a boundary toward the inside is centripetally maintained.⁵⁾ That is, a space without even one element among 3, it can be said as an exterior space.

In addition, an exterior space as a quasi-private space has a feature as a mediating space together with a public space and can show its compositive characteristics.

The functions of exterior spaces can be examined by being divided into two categories, that is, one for walking & staying and the other for resting & playing. A pedestrian space as a dynamic space means a space whose main purpose is to make people move on an avenue or a street. A static space means one having a wide area as an open space which is not an avenue or a street as a space for staying, resting and playing except for walking, such as, a square and a park, etc.

The target of this Study is elementary schools and the exterior spaces of elementary schools are analyzed on the basis of the cases analyzed in this study even though the exterior spaces reviewed earlier have their theoretical meanings in the aspect of the urban functions. In addition, the exterior spaces of elementary schools unlike those of a city are very small in the aspect of the sizes and they are easier to be classified functionally since the behaviors and actions of active students are not various.

The open spaces of elementary schools are divided into ones for staying, resting and playing in the aspect of functions. And the open spaces can be analyzed by dividing into the static ones and the dynamic ones depending on the specific functions. For the purpose of analyzing, the static open spaces are functionally classified into gardens, parks and courtyards, etc., where some static activities of people, such as, staying and resting, etc., are mainly conducted and the dynamic ones are analyzed into the ones as play yards, playgrounds, swimming pools and piloti, etc.

The types of exterior spaces can be classified as follows.

Spaces in architecture is composed of 3 dimensions. That is, such spaces are 3-dimensional rather than flat and such 3-D spaces are divided into 3 kinds of spaces, that is, air as a space above the ground, the ground and the underground space below the ground. In architecture, the exterior space is composed of 3 kinds of spaces like the interior ones. First, the air space is surrounded by walls and floors only as the upper space and is defined as an exterior space open to the public. Taking into consideration of the systems and laws & regulations, the minimum ceiling height is defined at 2.4m and the height above the ground is restricted to 4.95m. A ground space means the ground surface and also refers to the 1^st Floor of a building except for an air space and an underground space as ones at the same level as that of the ground surface. Regarding to an air space, in a study on the systems and laws & regulations on air spaces, the minimum ceiling height is defined at 2.4m and means a space above the ground surface that exists below the space whose the height from the ground is restricted to 4.95m.

Finally, an underground space is defined as a certain scale of space resource which is created naturally or artificially below the ground surface within the scope available for some rational purposes by the American Underground Space Association.⁶⁾ As another definition, it means “a space which is created by excavating soils or rocks horizontally or vertically below the ground surface”.⁷⁾

Therefore, while analyzing some exterior spaces, various kinds of 3-D spaces as well as ones above the ground must be analyzed. In the modern era, many exterior spaces are planned in air or under the ground as well as on the ground. Owing to such a trend, the exterior spaces of an elementary school are planned aggressively as air spaces and underground ones in order to create various kinds of exterior spaces within a narrow land.

Space above Ground	Ground	Under Ground

If each element is applied to the classification by comparing with the types of exterior spaces related to the Eco-Friendly Environment Certification Examination specified in Article 3, Chapter 2 above, the classification is as follows.

In 6.1. ‘Creation of Green Space within a parcel of land’, 6.1.1 ‘Creation of Connected Green Belt Axis’ is intended to analyze whether any green land which is connected to a space inside or outside a school exists or not. In 6.1.2. ‘Green Area Ratio on Natural Ground’, it is analyzed which types of exterior spaces are located on natural ground, such as, playgrounds, amusement parks and squares, etc., by analyzing the plans for creating natural grounds rather than the relevant green area ratio itself. Regarding to 6.2. ‘Securing the Ecological Functions of Exterior Spaces and Building Envelopes’, 6.2.1 ‘Ecological Area Rate’ is intended to analyze the spaces which are not ecological by checking whether any ecological areas exist or not in all exterior spaces of the relevant cases. In 6.3.1 ‘Creation of Biotope’ of 6.3. ‘Creation of Habitats for Living Creatures’, the types of relevant gardens, water spaces and ecological ponds, etc., are analyzed. In 6.3.2 ‘Creation of Ecological Learning Center’, it is analyzed whether any (6.3.2 생태학습원 조성은 생태학습원 시설의 유무를 분석한다.) Finally, 6.4.1 ‘Recycling Rate of Topsoil’ of 6.4. ‘Utilization of Natural Resources’ shall be excluded since it is a part which cannot be surveyed in this study. A comparative analysis of various kinds of exterior spaces that are shown in the elementary schools in foreign countries is conducted through the foreign case study regarding to the Eco-friendly Environment Examination Criteria as shown in Table 5.

In this Study, 8 cases of Elementary Schools in Foreign Countries were surveyed.

Division	Imagine	Location	area
Multi-Purpose Education Centre		France(Paris)	5,600㎡
Primary School For Sciences And Biodiversity		France((Boulogne)	6,766㎡
Expansion of the school		Netherlands(Basse )	3,900㎡
Burr Street Elementary School		USA(Connecticut)	6,503㎡
Manassas Park Elementary School		USA(Connecticut)	13,000㎡
Kiowa County Schools		USA(Greensburg)	11,612㎡
Colegio Antonio Derka		Colombia(Antioquia)	13,006㎡
Rakafot Elementary School		Israel(Kiryat Bialik)	2,700 ㎡

If the features of eco-friendly exterior spaces in 8 cases of elementary schools in foreign countries are compared, the results are shown like in Table 6.

In this study, exterior spaces are analyzed by dividing the physical analysis and the method specified in the Eco-Friendly Environment Certification Examination Criteria.

In a physical environment, various kinds of spaces appear. As a static space, gardens are divided into rooftop gardens and ground ones, etc. And also, a rooftop deck is positively used. Moreover, a courtyard is a space which is shown in almost all cases. So, various small spaces are planned inside such a space.

Unlike our country, a playground as a dynamic space is not essential. And small scale of sports facilities, such as, an indoor stadium and a basketball stadium were surveyed and it is shown that there are many play yards.

If the elements related to eco-friendly certification authorities are analyzed, it is shown that a plan for eco-friendly elements gets more important than the quantitative aspect as shown in some standards of our country. Especially, as the results from an analysis, it is assumed that the most important element is the part having created the green land axis in the section for creating green land within the ground.

That is, an important element is to create green zones and natural environment that are harmonized in the vicinity of the school rather than having many green zones in the exterior space.