Utility or Home?

My first reaction to the Architecture and Interior Design Module is that the notion that a house must appeal to our physical and physiological senses before it can feel like home is a far-reaching attempt by Suzanka to sell houses. I think she is a brilliant woman with remarkable insight and I do not discount her theories. I do beg to differ that a house with less asthetic appeal only functions in it's utility and cannot feel like home. With respect to creating compelling experiences in Education, what comes to mind almost immediately is that school bulidings are built almost exclusively for their utility. Giving credence to Suzanka's ideas, school buildings are some of the coldest, least inviting places I have ever been. They are made of brick, having dropped ceilings, generally they are poorly lit, and they are filled with ugly, uncomfortable "furniture". I have been in classrooms where teachers have made clear attempts (and sometimes successful, I might add) at making their rooms more inviting, but there is only so much you can do with a brick cube illuminated by overhead florescent lights. In light of Suzanka's theories, perhaps we would do well to consider school building design that takes asthetics into consideration so that our students might have every possible advantage.