Space for University Students: Specific Requirements for “Self-Learning” Environment – Theoretical Approach

The paper presents a humanistic approach in investigation of people-environment relations within university buildings. Architecture of the university buildings is considered to be a learning environment from the position of “critical pedagogy of place”. It emphasizes the importance of the place itself expressed by the specific link between building and its location understood mainly in environmental terms – not only as a functional node but also as a vital element of cultural and also natural environment (sustainable development). It also presents some of the contemporary research on learning environment focused on the topic of students’ engagement – influencing learning success, and its multiple relation with university building facilities and architecture. The theoretical considerations are illustrated by some examples of university buildings from US. The paper is a theoretical introduction to the following paper: “Students’ assessment of environmental conditions in university buildings – the research report”, which describes the method and results of research (by the same author) proceeded in a few Polish university buildings.