Pirurvik (a place to grow) : an elementary school as a resource center for Inuit culture in the village of Kangiqsualujjuaq is a Master Thesis Project by Myrtille Bayle supervised by Myriam Blais (Université Laval).
In the Indigenous vision, Douglas Cardinal (Of the spirit, 1977) contrasts the concept of school with that of resource center, which is closer to Indigenous values and expectations. The school as a resource center is a place where, in addition to transmitting knowledge, the community participates in the creation of knowledge that supports cultural vitality. Thus, this community involvement encourages the transmission of local cultural values to younger generations and ensures the continuation of the oral and spiritual narrative. The school as an educational resource center is a living organism, integrated into its community and open to the outside world that surrounds it. Thus learning takes place in a total space, where the classroom should serve only specific learning purposes.
In Nunavik, the learning of Inuit values and culture is based on three elements: first, the territory remains even today the true master for learning Inuit culture; second, community participation is essential to education; and third, learning is done through practice, observation and experience of place. In this context, how can architecture support the transmission of the culture between generations, and participate in this experiential learning so that the school becomes a living organism in its community?
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