This thesis explores the ecological design of schoolyard environments. It employs a systems approach, and considers energy, hydrologic, biotic, and social systems and their interrelation. The question of how to integrate experiential learning with the school landscape is also examined, as the concept of empowerment through experience in the landscape is a strong component of this project. With insights gained from an extensive literature review, the author tests the design position through the design explorations of a single schoolyard. The design process, described herein, illustrates the potential for ecological schoolyard design. / Master of Landscape Architecture

El proyecto de Fórum Universitario en el Centro de Lima es un proyecto que plantea una nueva tipología de edificio educativo en el país. Debido a la concepción unidimensional de las instituciones educativas universitarias públicas en Lima, su infraestructura actualmente responde de manera deficiente a los requerimientos contemporáneos del estudiante universitario y al contexto donde se emplaza. El Forum Universitario resulta del cuestionamiento a esta situación actual. El proyecto busca recuperar la esencia de espacio universitario integrado a la ciudad, sustentado en la investigación de los orígenes de la universidad como tal, que muestra que la universidad surgió gracias a la estrecha relación que sostuvo con el resto de las actividades de las ciudades donde se originaron. De igual forma, plantea, a través del concepto de Paisajes del aprendizaje o Learning Landscapes, que el proceso de aprendizaje del estudiante universitario no solo se da en las aulas, sino en una serie de espacios que involucran muchas más actividades sociales y de ocio, que se incorporan en el proyecto y, por tanto, al espacio Universitario. Así, se cuestionan los paradigmas de qué se puede o no hacer en un espacio destinado al desarrollo integral del estudiante Universitario. / The University Forum in the historic Centre of Lima is a project that proposes a new typology of educational building in the country. Due to the unidimensional conception of public university infrastructure in Lima, it responds poorly to the contemporary student requirements and to the context where these buildings are. The University Forum is the result of the questioning of this situation. The project aims to recover the essence of the university space, which is closely integrated to the city, sustained in the investigation of the origins of the university as such, which shows that the university emerged because of the close relationship between academic and non-academic activities, which all took place in various spaces around the city. In the same way, proposes, through the concept of Learning Landscapes, that the university student learning process does not only happen in classrooms but in a series of spaces outside the classrooms that involve more social and leisure type activities, which are incorporated in the project, and therefore, to the university space. In that way, the project questions the paradigms of what can be or cannot be done in a space destined to the integral development of the university student. / Tesis