Educational architecture and social transformation: Learning spaces in vulnerable urban contexts

This article explores the role of educational architecture in social and territorial transformation in vulnerable urban contexts in Latin America (Piña and Acosta, 2024). Using a qualitative and interdisciplinary approach that articulates sociology, pedagogy, and spatial design, two case studies are analyzed: a public school in Comuna 13 of Medellín, Colombia, and a self-managed community education center in Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina. Through interviews, participant observation, and documentary analysis, the article examines how architectural design can foster innovative pedagogical practices, strengthen community ownership of space, and redefine stigmatized territories. The findings show that educational spaces, when conceived from a contextual, participatory, and open perspective, function as social devices that enable new ways of learning, living, and building citizenship. It is concluded that every architectural intervention in the educational field also constitutes a political and cultural intervention, and that design must be understood as a strategic tool for social and spatial justice.