Jim Fetterman, long time practicing architect at HOK, came into our studio today to talk to us about our proposed vision for the backyard. He was been more than generous in giving us contacts with many companies that have led to donations with everything from stone pavers to mulch. Without him the scope of our project would be severely smaller.
We met with Principal Veal to show her our progress on the plan for the backyard. Our latest plan includes a large open field, formal classroom space, and active play zone all full of native planting. More and more donations are being offered and we are looking for ways to utilize all of their generosity. For example bricks were donated and our horizontal team is working to create patterns with them. Within the next few days we will have a donation page to thank our donors.
The spatial team traveled downtown to Patrick Henry today to get a feeling for how the proposed new plan for the backyard would feel. It was interesting how some designed spaces felt smaller on the actual site, while other areas felt larger. Afterwards, the team traveled to City Garden to get some inspiration for materials use and how to divide such a large space.
Architect Brent Crittenden, who works for the St. Louis firm, UIC + CDO, came into our studio today to review our plan and look at detailed sections. His suggestions are crucial to our success as later on this semester he will be stamping our construction documents for city permitting.
The team was split into three groups (plan, vertical components, and horizontal components) in order to come up with the design. We are working towards one cohesive plan through individual research on specific plants and materials to studio wide discussions on the layout.
Students learned how to take a land survey of the backyard of the school to gather the correct topography information.
A beautiful site model was constructed to present our initial schematic design ideas to Principal Veal and other PHDA faculty.
