ATRIUM Founder and Chief Architect Anton Nadtochiy was a guest on the author’s programme Voice of Architecture on Radio Kultura, where he spoke with host Nikolay Shumakov about the transformation of the educational environment — from an industrial template to a complex, flexible and human-centred architecture of the future.

In the 20th century, during the industrial era, schools resembled factories and were architecturally no different from them. There was a unified education system: pupils in Vladivostok studied the same things as pupils in Kaliningrad. The 21st century is focused on individualisation — not on an abstract schoolchild, but on a child with personal preferences and their own background.

Today, everything is changing. In an age of digitalisation, individualisation and conscious choice, the educational environment is no longer a background. It becomes an active participant in the learning process.

Ten years ago, schools in residential developments were either built according to standard designs or treated as what was left after the residential buildings had been planned. Today, developers have begun to understand that they are selling an environment. A key component of this environment is high-quality infrastructure with contemporary educational spaces that become points of attraction for all residents of the district.

In this context, ATRIUM is developing the methodology of “non-linear architecture” — an approach in which space does not impose a rigid order, but offers multiple spatial scenarios: zones for silence and noise, collective work and individual focus, improvisation and structured learning.

The conversation went beyond architectural discourse: what kind of city is needed for a child to grow not according to the system, but according to themselves?

Listen to the full interview on Radio Kultura in the Voice of Architecture podcast.