TYPE:

Educational / Civic / Venue / Park

SIZE:

350,000 SF

DESCRIPTION:

Technology has vastly affected how we learn and access information today. It has opened our eyes to new ways of seeing, learning, and interacting with each other. Today, our society is one characterized by networked connections. This has influenced every facet of our existence, and in particular how we educate ourselves. Education today is student-centered rather than teacher-centered. Students gain deeper knowledge through sharing with their peers. The Internet has become an essential component in education due to its openness and accessibility. Architecture today fails to successfully engage these new technological and social developments. To improve users’ appreciation of and engagement with the built environment.  A functional reprogramming of conventional educational design solutions must be adapted to fit the contemporary atypical spatial requirements. This project seeks to explore a school based in digitally integration that attempts to give back to the public as much as it receives. 

 

After close examination of trends in the way people in networked societies interact, with particular attention to millennials, it has been determined that even though people collect into groups they still retain their individuals attitudes. Using this knowledge my project responds with spaces that seek to cultivate creative and the sharing of ideas. Redefining the programmatic needs of the traditional educational facility to respond to some of the new educational technologies and teaching methods will allow for increased efficient and academic success among students. With the implementation of online lectures teachers and educators working in the facility can

 

use more of their time educating students in smaller settings. Using the surrounding assets of the site and creating a small local community will help to draw in a diverse set of users and its proximity to widely used public paths will increase the traffic and public use of the facility. I truly believe that with the integration of lessons learned from digital technology and the trends of the new, networked society, architecture can once again become a relevant and an accurate reflection of our cultural and educational ambitions.

 

The spaces of the building are divided into fields of study that are organized by subject relationships, noise levels, security, spatial requirements, and mechanical systems requirements. After organizing the juxtapositions, the first floor is comprised of the gym, administration, arts, shop, and music department. The second floor is made up of Business and History. The third floor holds the cafeteria, science and math departments. The fourth floor includes the English department, foreign language department, and video and performing arts department. The fifth floor acts and a student computer access and computer science department.

The sixth floor acts as a student lounge, observatory and access to the roof garden.

 

This building functions to blend the public and private spaces into a hybrid school. The school is not designed after a prison, but instead seeks to instigate a conversation with the public. By establishing this conversation the school will be able to give back as much as it learns and takes home from the community. 

From this examination several trends became apparent. First, the public path that crossed under Lake Shore Dr. should be maintained and celebrated. The building should have two types of orientations, one to the city, and one to the amenities. The building should be public and act as an amenity itself. The building should provide parking for the school and the public visitors who would use the park and the buildings amenities.

 

The building should recognize the way it is seen and the way it sees. This means that it should address the traffic of Lake Shore drive, the pedestrian on foot or bike, the car on the side street, and the people in the nearby high-rises. It also means that views should be oriented to the soccer field, Lake Michigan, downtown Chicago, and the city grid.