Participatory Planning of Public Architecture under the Condition of Newly Exploring and Organizing Various Participants: The Case of School Facility in Korea

Abstract

Discussions and practices aimed at improving the learning environment of public school facilities built in the 1990s to fit the current century are ongoing. There have been improvements to the school environment in Korea for approximately a decade that involved user participation and collaboration in the design process. This study aims to determine the characteristics of user participation in consultations on one such project and reflects on the condition that participants in public building projects be newly sought out and organized. This is a qualitative study that tracks the actions and results of participants and related subjects from an exploratory point of view, targeting the Seoul Eunro Elementary School (SEES) project. The participants did not include users who raised issues about the school space or influenced the start of the project, moreover, they had no experience participating in public projects. Thereby, the participants should be categorized into newly or partly reorganized groups. The administration and experts should focus on collecting opinions, including design training, and detailed roles should be assigned for the same.