Keystone Magazine Keystone Magazine 5th EN | Page 47

calls “the big themes.”
“What do the students absorb by osmosis, and
not just because it is a lesson or a lecture…
this is about values and messages within the
furniture itself. What we have tried not to do is
to imitate the past, but we have tried to reflect
some of the virtues of the past and prove them
relevant to the future. Now one can do this
in a lot of different ways. But for 16-18 year
olds, they absorb their interiors; they are like
sponges. They will absorb values from the
quality of the materials, color – it carries a lot of
meaning, especially in Chinese culture through
its ceramics, paintings and architecture – and
these things carry meaning…”
Constructing and imbibing meaning is
both individual and collective. W hile, it
is designed as a space for dreaming and
discovery of the self, it is also a “social space
with a sense of ritual in a shared sphere.” So
though the High School Library is unique in
many ways, it is part of a whole – spatially and
programmatically. Its layout enables quiet
study, and encourages mutually supported
group work and teamwork, which is essential
to the International Baccalaureate curriculum
used in Keystone’s middle and high school
years.
will they feel comfortable about using a
university-style library of the kind you might
expect in America, or in the UK or anywhere
else and feel immediately at home. Because if
they don’t feel at home, then they will always
be slightly behind in their first year of study.
The crucial thing is when they leave this place,
they have absorbed a lot of this meaning, and
the messages and they also feel comfortable
about going on to the next stage.”
Individual to Institutional
Future
Hughes’ craftsmanship not only acts as a
launching pad for students as they venture
into college or university in another part of
the world, but it also sets the tone for the
evolution of the place itself. Drawing from
his experience in the European tradition of
a thousand years, there are three principal
rooms that form the central core of any major
building or establishment of learning: they are
the library, the dining hall and the prayer hall.
Hughes hopes the library will be the soul of
Keystone’s academic fulcrum and also pivotal
to its community. “In two to three decades, the
library will speak of something much bigger
than just a collection of books. It is not just
for the current high school students, but it
will also be setting a standard for the students
growing up to that age and stage as well.”
He leans forward and continues, “The big prize
will be when they move on from Keystone, Institutional identity is an impor tant
www.keystoneacademy.cn
47