Open University Spaces. International Experience Evaluating Them as Settings for Innovation and Learning

Abstract

Open university spaces play a key role in the renewed concept of a campus as a place of
learning, where knowledge exits the classroom and is present in every area of academic life, both
formal and informal. This concept of an “integrated campus” or “didactic campus” that is functionally
and structurally integrated into the city requires planning its open spaces so as to adapt them to
these objectives. It is a question of reactivating campus life by relying on processes similar to those
that occur in the city. The demand for a flexible, public space for culture and learning is not exclusive
to university settings, though it is there that producing and incentivizing such spaces makes the
most sense. The consolidation of new university models requires a correct definition of an open
space on three levels: urban (through its itineraries), neighborhood (around the university square)
and an intimate scale (that of social micro-spaces for learning). This article analyzes the different
trends at these three levels so as to learn from their successes and hardships in consolidating an
integrated campus learning model.