Making School Beautiful: Restoring the Harmony of Place

by John E. Skillen

The rapid growth of the classical Christian education movement means that hundreds of recently established schools enjoy a basic solidarity of purpose. They can also seize the opportunity to think together about how the architecture and design of their schools can best suit their identity and location.

In Making School Beautiful, Dr. Skillen draws out principles of campus design from the very liberal arts—rhetoric in particular—that shape our curriculum. His argument is that the rich intellectual, literary, and artistic heritage can inform not only what we teach but where we teach. From the campus layout to thoughtful design of rooms, buildings, and selected art, students and teachers can foster a love of learning, a care for their neighbors, and a desire for God.

The idea itself comes from the great architects of the tradition. From Vitruvius, who wants the architect to be “instructed in geometry, know much history, [and] have followed the philosophers with attention.” From Renaissance architect Leon Battista Alberti, who is explicit about the parallels between rhetoric and architecture and states that the architect should “take the same approach [to the art of building] as one might toward the study of letters.”

The organization of Skillen’s book follows Alberti’s three aspects of architectural decorum: every room should be fitting for its place in the building as a whole; every decorative element in a room to the room’s role in the building; and the building as a whole to its place in the surrounding townscape and landscape.

Genres: Education

240 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2020

About the author

John Skillen is a specialist in medieval and Renaissance literature. He taught at Gordon College for 15 years before launching an arts-oriented semester program in Orvieto, Italy, in 1998. Since then, Dr. Skillen has been teaching courses in Orvieto on the cultural context of medieval and Renaissance Italian art, on Renaissance storytelling in literature and visual art, and on Dante’s Divine Comedy. With students of all ages, he has lead dozens of seminars and retreats that study Italian masterpieces in their original locations. Dr. Skillen directs the Studio for Art, Faith & History in Orvieto, Italy, which he founded in 2005.

Reviews

[Robin]

Good insights into how the physical environment around us affects our actions and thoughts. Basic classical education philosophies, really, but made a bit more accesible. We can make learning fun, and we can make school a beautiful place.

[Heather Wright]

Very well researched. Principles are well explained but lacking in enough architectural example. His knowledge of art is impressive and insightful.