Gemeinsam die Schulbank drücken - this German idiom, which literally means to share a school desk, is what Germans commonly say to express the fact that they went to school with someone. It refers to an everyday object we are all familiar with; but we know astonishingly little about its history and significance. It was first of all the traditional school desk with its attached seat and then the school chair and table that challenged and inspired designers, architects and manufacturers in different ways, at different times, and in different countries.
The catalogue to the VS school museum in Tauberbischofsheim, which houses a unique collection of school furniture from Germany and abroad, traces this fascinating development in its remarkable diversity. It tells for the first time the history of school furniture in the last hundred years and illustrates how social change, new educational theories and pioneering school architecture have had a mutual influence on each other and made their mark on modern school furniture. But looking at child-friendly design of learning environments is by no means an exercise in nostalgia. The reformers' original aim of making schools into life-enhancing places that promote the development of the whole child is still hotly debated. This richly illustrated publication looks back over the historical background and looks forward to possible future developments.
The catalogue to the VS school museum in Tauberbischofsheim, which houses a unique collection of school furniture from Germany and abroad, traces this fascinating development in its remarkable diversity. It tells for the first time the history of school furniture in the last hundred years and illustrates how social change, new educational theories and pioneering school architecture have had a mutual influence on each other and made their mark on modern school furniture. But looking at child-friendly design of learning environments is by no means an exercise in nostalgia. The reformers' original aim of making schools into life-enhancing places that promote the development of the whole child is still hotly debated. This richly illustrated publication looks back over the historical background and looks forward to possible future developments.