单项选择题

Seventh graders figure out direction by mapping the sculptures of the north, south, east and west winds that serve as compass points for the building. And fifth graders study astronomy by searching for Cassiopeia in an inlaid night sky that stretches across the lobby floor. The Columbus school incorporates sculpture and other art into nearly every corner of its year old building with the hope that it will inspire students in this working-class Hispanic neighborhood to learn. It is one of a growing number of newly built or renovated public schools across the country that look more like cultural centers than the austere, utilitarian houses of learning of the past, displaying museum-worthy pieces commissioned from artists alongside more traditional finger paintings and statues of school mascots.
Columbus even drew up a curriculum guide this fall for using this untraditional architecture in class lessons. "Looking at art is not just an aesthetic; it"s a learning resource," said Abie Benitez, principal of the Columbus academy. "We"ve created a framework for everybody to find a connection to the art in the building—and to the building itself."
New Haven has emerged at the forefront of a movement to build schools that are aesthetically pleasing as well as functional, and to turn plain brick-and-mortar walls into show-and-tell lessons. Fourteen of the 31 public schools built or renovated here in the past decade have merged art and architecture with education in some fashion.
Educators and architects say that these new schools challenge long-accepted notions dating back to the 1950s of school buildings as no-frills projects designed to fulfill safety specifications and to be completed as quickly and cheaply as possible, particularly in fast-growing cities and suburbs. Mr. Roger and others say that thinking began to change as health and environmental concerns over indoor air quality and lighting led to higher standards for school buildings. Newer cost-efficient technology also allowed architects to customize schools in a way not possible before. And now art has become an integral part of many new and existing schools, supported with donations from parents and local government grants.
Here in New Haven, the new Columbus school replaced a building from the early 1970s that resembled a concrete bunker and whose sole piece of art—a mural in the cafeteria—was hard to see because of poor lighting. Barry Svigals, the architect in charge of the project, said he envisioned a place that would promote the school"s mission of education through discovery while delighting students. A series of 11 fiberglass panels, which look as if they were made of terra cotta, run along the outside of the building, resembling a children"s puzzle with an array of wind-and water-themed figures, including parachutes, birds and Columbus"s ships.
Monica Maldonado, the president of the Columbus parent association, said that more students want to come to school now because they find so many things to look at in the building. Passers-by with no children have also stopped by to ask for tours. What Barry Svigals says means that ______