Circulation: We wanted to experiment with circulation, whether it be in front of or in back of the bands of classrooms. If the hallways were in front of the classrooms, then the entire center of the building would have to become an atrium...which we want to avoid. However, putting the circulation in back of the classrooms gets tricky. We may have to find a middle ground.
We also talked about the circulation peeking through the facade at times. (Rules: North - no exterior circulation here because of neighboring building; East and South- the circulation could only come out slightly because of the "L"; West- could only come out above the 2nd story because of trucks passing by in the ally way). In my studio project from last semester, I had circulation weave its way in and out of the building's facade, creating an interior space which seemed to be exterior.This creates a strong connection with the outside and makes the hallways a social and visible space.
Control Points: Lisa and I decided to revisit the extruded, stepped curves. This time we would use control points to alter the spaces inside and outside of the classrooms. For example, if circulation is in front of the classrooms, the widdening and narrowing of the hallways would create an interesting and dynamic space to walk through. The classrooms, although not a perfect curve, will still be offset the necessary 25ft.
Central Courtyard: If the circulation can be placed in back of the classrooms, we can create a total central courtyard with steps up to certain accessible terraces created by the classrooms. The steps could be climbable, like a play area, or seating for an outdoor classroom or performance. The other benefit to this would be that all classrooms would receive the required light, and it would create an inward facing, visually connected school. It's true that there would be few outward facing windows, but we don't really want people from the "L" looking into our classrooms, so this may work.
Other Courtyards: There may still be opportunities to created smaller more private courtyards to be shared between selected grade levels. After looking at Lisa's newest model, it got me thinking about how to recreate our open yet private courtyards from our early study models...As long as a courtyard is surrounded by three walls it seems closed off to certain people, but open to its inhabitants. In Lisa's newest model she used the curves and just pinched one end of it creating a small tear-drop-shaped courtyard accessible to the surrounding classrooms. That courtyard may still be cut off at the pinched end, creating an interesting manipulation in the facade (something we talked with Karl about earlier).
Here are some of my newest, yet unfinished Rhino models. Still have a lot of work to do.
(Filling in the programmatic spaces, and seeing what is left over)
(Filling in the programmatic spaces, and seeing what is left over)
(Starting on the 1st level: Playing with control points, slightly changing the terraces)
(Starting on the -1st level: Playing with control points, dramatically changing the spaces)One more thing which I was thinking about with this last model, was the required spaces and volumes of the bigger programmatic elements (ie. gym, auditorium, dining hall, library, etc). In this last model, the big voids, starting from the top and moving counterclockwise are: gym, adminstrative center, dining hall, and auditorium. The auditorium and the dining hall may have more interesting and less rigid shapes since their program is more flexible. The administrative center, however, must house several repetitive offices. The gym, as you can see in plan view, has extra space between the rectangular court and the curvilinear for of the classrooms; this space may be used for the required single office and storage space.
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