Updating Users’ Needs Framework in Middle Schools. A Field Research Activity

A common knowledge on problems, needs, and wishes of middle school user communities—as regards conditions and ways of use of their facilities—currently lacks in Italy. However, in order to move towards an effective renewal of the schools, this framework of knowledge may be useful to raise awareness of the physical environment issues as well as to inform decision-making. Starting from this hypothesis, experimental field research was carried out on five lower secondary schools located in the metropolitan area of Milan by a research group that included scholars of both architecture and education, with the active involvement of a range of actors within the school communities. This essay focuses both on the methodological approach of the research and on the results of each stage of the evaluation process. The cross-reading of what emerged from the tours through the schools, the voices of students, teachers, and principals, as well as the information and data collected by questionnaires, highlighted a number of critical issues, that have been discussed in the conclusion.