Abstract:

Background:
The Ubuntu Schools from Ubuntu Leaders Academy is a youth empowerment program targeting individuals aged 12 to 18 years old. It is currently being implemented in Portuguese schools, with the majority of them being TEIP Schools (Priority Intervention Education Territories). It is founded upon the servant leadership model and draws inspiration from prominent individuals such as Martin Luther King, Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandela. Ubuntu, a philosophy rooted in Africa, embodies the essence of interdependence and solidarity through the expression "I am because you are." Guided by these principles, the Ubuntu Schools from the Ubuntu Leaders Academy aim to foster and promote personal, social, and civic competencies among participants, contributing to their transformation as agents of change in service to the community, thus helping to build a more just and compassionate city. The Ubuntu Academy is a social learning process that complements the formal education system with activities employing creative approaches and methodologies to engage the participants. The development of these activities requires physical and spatial conditions that accommodate various practices, such as work with groups, formal seminars, conference, movie screenings, presentation, and more. Thus, by conceiving architecture as a device within the educational system, the aim is to explore how the configuration of the school environment, precisely the spaces accommodating activities within the Ubuntu Schools program, can embody a socializing, humanizing, and political function, thereby engendering educational potentials within the spaces it shapes. Architecture permeates everyday school life due to its enduring and functional nature and its visual, artistic, and cultural dimensions. It can influence behaviours, pathways, and stances within the school space.

Objective:
This paper aims at describing the impact of physical space on the transmission of a message associated with the principles and values of Ubuntu philosophy. The goal is to explore the specific features of the school physical environment that contribute to promote and reflect the principles and values of Ubuntu Leaders Academy.

Methods:
A scoping methodology was conducted to systematically study this field and inform future research by mapping literature relating physical space issues with the Ubuntu philosophy. As well as conducting on-site visual observations, architectural project analysis, and guided visits to pre-selected case studies. Semi-structured interviews with students, teachers, and facilitators of the Ubuntu Leaders Academy will further support the analysis.

Conclusion:
Considering the analyses of the case studies and conducted interviews, architecture can evoke specific elements and characteristics within the school environment, thereby better reflecting the principles and values of Ubuntu. Therefore, it is crucial to act within this context, acknowledging that spaces have the potential to convey readily perceptible messages and create an immediate impact on the users.

Keywords:

School architecture, Ubuntu, Educational spaces, Ubuntu Leaders Academy, Spatial narrative.