Exploring Design Strategies of Modern School Buildings in Cyprus (1945-1974)

The education system played an important role socially and school buildings played an important role visually first in the dissemination of nationalism when the ethno nationalist movements within the Turkish and Greek-Cypriot communities increased dramatically under British colonial rule (1878-1960), and later in the dissemination of internationalism in the mid-20th century. Despite the increased conflict and nationalism, which was reflected by Neo-Greek architectural elements, the striking impact of the International Style turned school buildings into representations of the communities’ attitudes towards modernism. After Second World War, the Style embodied by many school buildings conveyed science-based modern thought; modernization attempts for political, economic and social reforms; and the strong commitment of the first modernist Cypriot architects to the spirit of the time and the philosophy of the modern. In this study, the main aim is to understand how post-war school buildings in Cyprus are identified as unique artefacts transformed from an ‘ethnicity-based’ image into an ‘environment-based’ form that is more associated with the modernization, decolonization and nation-building processes from which local nuances of mainstream modernism emerged. Besides the effects of socio-political environment, and implementation of International Style principles in Modern Cyprus school buildings, especially climate-sensitive design strategies of the post-war architectural culture is examined as an important value that determines a new aesthetic understanding. Accordingly, this study explored post-war school buildings to illustrate their transformation from a monumental, resplendent and nationalist image to a rational, international Mediterranean Modern image under the influence of diverse political regimes, with both images implicitly conveying a socio-political fusion in the architecture of Cyprus. Keywords: school buildings, nationalism, modernism, design with climate, Cyprus