Global changes in education have greatly influenced China, shifting from Soviet-style education in the 1950s to adopting and adapting global educational models after reform and opening up. China's education system is continually evolving, finding its unique path. In this context, this study examines the problems in the current Chinese education system, especially the link between school building design and educational goals, and how good design can make education better.

This research looks at the limits of traditional Chinese school designs. These designs often focus more on functionality than flexibility and interaction. This focus can prevent students from developing fully, which is the aim of modern educational reforms. By analyzing three case studies—Qingyi River School, Zhoucun District No.1 Middle School, and Wangcun Town Middle School—this study explores how the principles of Mat-Building can create more dynamic and student-centered learning environments.

The first case study looks at Qingyi River School. This school successfully uses Mat-Building concepts, showing how modular and open-space designs can increase student autonomy and social interaction. The second case study examines Zhoucun District No.1 Middle School. This school illustrates the problems of traditional functionalist design and how it limits student engagement and effective learning. The third case study, Wangcun Town Middle School, critically examines how historical influences from Unit Compounds and socialist ideologies shape current school designs. It also explores how Mat-Building could improve these environments.

This dissertation uses theories from de-schooling, environmental psychology, and educational sociology to analyze the impact of school architecture on educational outcomes. It suggests that Mat-Building, with its focus on modularity, flexibility, and openness, can greatly improve the quality of school environments in China. By fostering a more holistic and student-centered approach to learning, Mat-Building can help close the gap between educational spaces and teaching goals.

The study finds that using Mat-Building principles in Chinese school designs can improve learning experiences, promote social interaction, and support students' overall well-being. It highlights the importance of aligning school architecture with modern educational goals and offers practical recommendations for policymakers, educators, and architects. Ultimately, this work aims to contribute to the ongoing discussion on educational reform and school design, offering a fresh perspective on how innovative architecture can meet the changing needs of education in China.

我第一次接触到垫层建筑，是在一个叫做西村基地庭院的项目里，这个项目集居住、商业、运动、社区等功能于一体。建筑师刘家琨对垫层建筑进行了全新的诠释，展示了建筑、景观和城市如何相互融合，体现出一个地方的独特气质。这让我理解了垫层建筑的概念。

此外，伊万·伊里奇的“去学校化”理论也给了我启发。该理论认为，教育应该超越传统学校，涉及社会互动和个人探索。这一理论是我案例研究的框架之一。它与中国当前对优质教育的关注非常契合，因为它支持独立和多样化的学习。

然而，将垫层建筑与中国联系起来却更具挑战性。引入垫层建筑的艾莉森和彼得·史密森没有明确的政治立场，他们的设计也回避了政治。为了解决这个问题，我阅读了艾莉森的许多文章和相关作品，发现 1974 年以后，垫层建筑的概念面临挑战，并随着后现代主义的兴起而逐渐消退。尽管如此，20 世纪后期许多著名的建筑师将垫层建筑的理念融入他们的设计中，展示了其功能潜力。Mat-Building emphasizes modularity, flexibility, and openness, promoting social interaction and community cohesion through the creation of homogeneous and continuous spaces. The emergence of mat-building is a reflection on the overly rational and functional spatial organization of modernism, encouraging diversity, emotional expression, and individual choice in urban spaces. Mat-building is considered a naturally evolving urban architectural form, with studies including analyses of ancient cities in Kuwait. One of the most notable features of mat-building is its outward boundaries and inward ambiguity. Alison Smithson proposed mat-building partly to oppose the highly rational and functional spatial organization of modernism, advocating for the existence of diversity, emotion, and individual choice within urban settings. The mat-building characteristics observed in ancient Chinese architecture were less a result of deliberate design and more a response to social development and geographical conditions, forming a strategy with significant social value and public meaning.虽然垫层建筑在人口密度较低的欧洲城市使用有限，但它可能为人口密度较高的亚洲城市提供新思路。这就是我选择关注垫层建筑的原因。

列斐伏尔的《空间生产》为我的研究提供了社会主义城市布局和单位大院的理论背景，有助于我理解中国学校建筑的历史背景和社会影响。单位大院和人民公社的实践体现了集体主义和社区凝聚力的重要性，这与毯子建筑的概念有相似之处。毯子建筑反对现代主义高度理性和功能性的空间组织，呼应了改革开放后中国对传统单位大院和人民公社模式的反思。随着经济社会的发展，这些传统空间越来越显得过于封闭和功能单一，不符合新时代的需求，从而引发了更加灵活开放的空间改造和重新设计。

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Wang Family Courtyard. Jingsheng Town,

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Wikipedia contributors, "Deschooling Society," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/ind...;(accessed March 22, 2024).

All-round education refers to an educational model aimed at improving the overall quality of learners. It values the cultivation of people's ideological and moral qualities, abilities, personality development, physical and mental health education. all-round education corresponds to exam oriented education, but it is not an absolute opposite concept, as the two are not antonyms in terms of meaning. Since China's “reform and opening up”, the Communist Party and the state have always regarded improving the quality of the entire nation as a fundamental task related to the overall construction of socialist modernization. all-round education was first proposed on February 13, 1993, when the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council formulated and issued the "Outline for China's Education Reform and Development" based on the collective experiences of educational workers' reform practices. By the autumn of 2009, the new curriculum was fully implemented across the compulsory education stage nationwide, and ordinary high schools in 25 provinces had adopted the new curriculum. The educational philosophy had undergone reform and implementation, but the corresponding campus spaces had changed very little, continuing to emphasize a highly efficient teaching environment, which resulted in less than ideal outcomes for all-round education.

Unit compounds, a common architectural form during China's socialist period, typically included housing, schools, canteens, and other facilities to promote collective living and social cohesion.

People's communes, as a broader social organization form, emphasized the integration of collective life and production, reflecting this ideology in unit compounds. Unit compounds provided not only living and working spaces but also education, medical, and entertainment facilities, creating a strong sense of community and social responsibility.

When choosing research methods, I considered a combination of literature review, case analysis, and field research. The literature review helped me thoroughly understand the historical background and theoretical foundation of mat-building and Chinese school architecture. Case analysis allowed me to deeply study the design and renovation of specific schools. I selected three representative schools for case analysis: Qingyi River Road Primary School, Zhoucun District No. 1 Middle School, and Wangcun Town Middle School.

I chose Qingyi River Road Primary School because it is a successful example of mat-building, demonstrating the effectiveness of this design concept in practical application. Zhoucun District No. 1 Middle School and Wangcun Town Middle School, on the other hand, serve as typical examples of traditional design and functional renovation, providing contrast and reference.

Wangcun Town Middle School is a school where I have lived, so I am very familiar with its changes over the years. However, due to poor preservation of architectural drawings, I could not obtain them. I restored the appearance of the school from different periods through school photos and interviews with teachers and parents, using oral history methods. This approach highlighted that the school, before renovation, had the characteristics of a work unit compound. In addition to its educational function, it also had dormitories, a canteen, and shops. The school's facilities were used for town events like sports meets and celebrations, making it a social hub with characteristics of mat-building. However, after the renovation, the school deviated from its previous design concept and lost some of its social functions, making it a failed case study.

Zhoucun District No. 1 Middle School is a typical urban school, illustrating a series of design issues caused by limited space. Through field research and these interviews, I obtained valuable information that verified the practical application of the theories. For the student interviews, due to ethical concerns, I interviewed their parents instead.

In the future, I am interested in exploring fields such as historical studies or aesthetic anthropology. I have observed that the rigidity and functionalism in Chinese middle school architecture can partly be understood as a cultural and aesthetic discontinuity brought about by the full endorsement of Western capitalist culture following the economic reforms (transition from a planned economy to a state-controlled market economy). China rapidly adopted many Western modern architectural concepts, focusing particularly on functionality and practicality. This design approach was crucial in the context of rapid economic growth as it could quickly meet the demand for many new schools. However, this orientation neglected spatial diversity and human-centered design, leading to monotonous and rigid campus environments. The reverence for technology also led to a period of overlooking local culture and traditional aesthetics. This phenomenon of discontinuity is not only evident in architecture but also permeates various aspects of social life. Nevertheless, recent years have seen improvements, with more designers attempting to incorporate traditional cultural elements into modern architecture. However, such attempts are still relatively rare in school architecture design.