Working with Pittsburgh’s Environmental Charter School to design their next generation of middle schools, this project focuses on how space-making, design, and community building can both contribute to and enhance project-based learning.

 

The resulting scheme was developed through a systems-thinking approach over the course of a semester. There were several opportunities to engage with students, faculty, and industry specialists through integrative design workshops in order to gain real-world feedback and iterate through multiple proposals. Priority was placed on revealing material assemblies, designing enclosures, and integrating building systems in a way that contributes to the students’ curriculum and allows them to learn about the inter-workings of the structure surrounding them.