Master of Architecture Final Project Book

Gavin Walsh

Final Project Sequence F19-S20

INLET VOCATIONAL SCHOOL

Gavin Walsh Gisela Baurmann Rensselaer School of Architecture May 2020 Master of Architecture

Table of Contents Abstract 5 Thesis Statement 6-7 History/Precedent 8-13 Research & Working Methodology 14-23 Project Development 24-35 Conclusion 36-37 Bibliography 38 Image Citations 39

INLET VOCATIONAL SCHOOL | Gavin Walsh

Figure 1: Ground Floor Interior Rendering

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INLET VOCATIONAL SCHOOL | Gavin Walsh

Abstract While the continuing expansion of Industry City has led to job growth in the Sunset Park area, it has received several heavy criticisms by the community in how it carries the threat of displacing the industrial jobs that are considered the lifeblood of the community’s identity. This also coincides with a risk of residential displacement if industrial trades continue to be pushed out of Sunset Park, as many of the city’s residents rely on these jobs.

In approaching this risk of community displacement as well as considering that only about 20% of adults living in Sunset Park have college degrees, the community could potentially benefit from a sort of programatic encouragement for the maintenance of industrial trades through vocational education. In connecting this opportunity for vocational education directly to Industry City’s Building 24, citizens of Sunset Park would be able to effectively prepare for their particular trades and potentially collaborate or partake in the business and services that could be housed in this building.

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Thesis Statement With the current state of trade and vocational schools, students are often left inadequately equipped to navigate unforeseen structural and fundamental changes to their trades in the future. Students who receive a university education, on the other hand, are taught structural principles and underlying conceptual intricacies in each field of study. One could partially attribute this deficiency in vocational education to the architectural implications of the educational facilities that house these schools, many of which either continuing to follow or slowly attempting to adjust to the “cells and bells” school layouts popularized in the early 20th century and relatively unchallenged until recently. These educational typologies limit the learning opportunities for the students, only adhering to very few modalities of learning. In applying recent research regarding effective learning environments and adjusting for the potentially massive impact that fully implementing modern technology can have on education, vocational schools may be able to modernize and overcome potential oversights of design in learning for the future.

Figure 2: Store Density map from FP Research Figure 3: School District map from FP Research

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I aim to essentially deconstruct the organization of a conventional trade school structure and advocate for a more collaborative, spatially diverse, and transparent organizational strategy.

In doing so, spaces can become easily interchangeable for optimized use by educators, replacing what can conventionally be considered as classrooms, lecture halls, and labs with a wide variety of “learning theaters.” In doing so, members of the community as students can collaborate through the school’s facilities and effectively prepare for the dynamacy of their trades and interactions with companion trades through interdisciplinary involvement. These learning theaters carry the intention of accommodating the variety of trades being held in the vocational school and the variety of educational techniques necessary for effective education in the twenty-first century. By

INLET VOCATIONAL SCHOOL | Gavin Walsh

deviating from the traditional structure of classrooms along hallways, the opportunity arises for a greater degree of dynamacy in education. The concept of dynamacy in learning spaces through spatial organization is further emphasized through an understanding of the four types of learning spaces, namely learning from experts, learning from peers, learning through introspection, and learning by doing. The emphasis on adhering to the principles highlighted by these four categories and the importance of the meeting points between them further facilitates a sort of organizational transparency that can benefit a greater variety in methods of both learning and teaching.

The concept of implementing transparency into the spaces of this vocational school is meant both literally and figuratively. In terms of materiality, the design implements a great deal of glass in both its exterior facade and its interior spaces This transparency not only allows for sufficient natural light to be allowed into the various spaces of the building, but also gives opportunities for students to look into adjacent spaces and inspire intrigue through visual learning. In addition to this literal transparency, the flexibility of spaces and careful organization of learning theaters allows for a sort of organizational transparency that can facilitate the cycling of different learning modalities by emphasizing the connections between spaces and establishing a sort of learning community.

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INLET VOCATIONAL SCHOOL | Gavin Walsh

Figure 4: Site Collage from FP Research

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INLET VOCATIONAL SCHOOL | Gavin Walsh

History/Precedent The current expansion of Industry City in the Sunset Park area is one of the latest in a long line of attempts to essentially rebrand the identity of Brooklyn. Jeremiah Moss, in his book “Vanishing New York: How a Great City Lost its Soul,” compares the continuous waves of gentrification in Brooklyn to waves of colonizers seeking to ‘save’ what they view as an untamed savage landscape desperate for change. In discussing the development of this cycle of gentrication in the twenty-first century, he states: “Brooklyn no more the low-rise city of high church steeples, industrial riverbank, streets full of stoops full of kids watched by grandmothers leaning on windowsills. In the twenty-first century, Brooklyn became a highly coveted international brand - as it topped the list of the most expensive places to live in America. and this shift wasn’t natural. It was by design.”¹ There is some irony to be found in the naming of “Industry City,” as its expansion toward the waterfront is contributing to the continuing displacement of industry in Sunset Park. The existing program within Industry City consists of many small businesses run by the ‘tenants’ of the building complex, however many of these people do not live in the Sunset Park. Industry City’s developers, Jamestown Properties, has also expressed interest in pursuing a city rezoning that would allow for a hotel, expanded parking, and a water taxi service to serve daytripping shoppers, among other expansions of influence.

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Figure 5: Site Images

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Figure 6: Design Fundamentals

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Figure 7: Form Transformation

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Figure 8: Primordial Learning Spaces Diagram

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INLET VOCATIONAL SCHOOL | Gavin Walsh

Research and Working Methodology Types of learning spaces can essentially be divided into four categories, defined by David Thornburg in his article “Campfires in Cyberspace: Primordial Metaphors for Learning in the Twenty-First Century” as the “four primordial learning spaces.” These categories include the campfire (learning from an expert), the watering hole (learning from peers), the cave (learning from introspection), and life (learning by doing). Traditional school organizations mostly focus on the campfire in their structure of classrooms. Thornburg believes, however, that real learning can only possibly occur if the opportunity is present to cycle through most if not all of these four categories on a regular basis.

By categorizing the spaces found within my proposal for a vocational school in accordance to these four types of spaces, the opportunity arises to accomodate this cycling of learning typologies through the organization of the school itself. This opportunity coincides with the necessary ability for vocational schools to be able to adapt to changes in program and usages of spaces as technology and more advanced learning objectives develop.

By situating spaces according to their attributed primordial learning space and emphasizing the meeting points and interactions between these spaces, the design has the potential to accommodate the methodology behind a wider variety of educational techniques both for students and educators.

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Figure 9: Program Adjacencies Diagram

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Figure 10: Program Relocatability Diagram

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Figure 11: Program Puzzle Axonometric A

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Figure 12: Program Puzzle Axonometric B

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Project Development A key factor in successful of modern educational facilities is their ability to adhere to multiple modalities of learning. As Prakash Nair discusses in his book, “Blueprint for Tomorrow: Redesigning Schools for StudentCentered Learning,” the traditional organizational structure dubbed “cells and bells” with nearly identical classrooms flanking a hallway only accommodates very few types of learning. In discussing the flaws that inherently accompany this organization, he states: “By eliminating the rigid separation that now exists between classrooms and hallways, much if not all the space previously set aside for hallways will become useful for teaching and learning, and the classrooms themselves can be configured in much more flexible ways.”

Rather than adhering to this typology, as many do, a modern vocational school can be designed with less of a focus on individual classrooms and more of a focus on “learning communities.” This can be achieved through variety in spaces and organizational strategies, essentially establishing varying “learning theaters” in place of traditional classrooms, lecture halls, and lab spaces, among other traditional spaces found in vocational schools.

By creating a greater variety of spaces for learning, the design of the school is able to better facilitate and optimize the teaching of different trades, courses, and individual lessons.

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INLET VOCATIONAL SCHOOL | Gavin Walsh

Figure 16: Chunk Model

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INLET VOCATIONAL SCHOOL | Gavin Walsh

Figure 17: Choisy Axonometric

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Figure 26: Level 4 Interior Rendering

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Conclusion Students of the Inlet Vocational School have the potential to benefit greatly from its organizational strategy, dynamacy of learning environments, and figurative and literal transparency. In implementing spatial consideration for different learning modalities through adherence to the four primordial learning spaces, students are able to benefit from flexibility in the organization of the spaces themselves, the flexibility and transparency between spaces, and the potential for collaboration with their educators and peers. Additionally, the school’s connection to the existing Industry City Building 24 brings about the immediate opportunity to turn their education into practice through participation in and collaboration with the business potentially held within this building.

The greatest potential benefit in this building’s design strategy in contrast to the designs of many traditional vocational schools is the opportunity to add a greater deal of dynamacy to vocational education. This can bring about the potential to instill more structural and conceptual principles that are generally lacking in vocational education when compared to university education.

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Bibliography Moss, Jeremiah. Vanishing New York: How a Great City Lost Its Soul. New York: Dey Street Books, 2018.

Nair, Prakash. Blueprint for Tomorrow: Redesigning Schools for Student-Centered Learning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press, 2017.

Thornburg, David. “Campfires in Cyberspace: Primordial Metaphors for Learning in the 21st Century.� Ed at a Distance Magazine 15, no. 6 (2001). https://www.td.org/newsletters/ atd-links/campfires-in-cyberspace-primordial-metaphors-forlearning-in-the-21st-century.

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Image Citations Figure 1: Ground Floor Interior Rendering Figure 2: Store Density map from FP Research Figure 3: School District map from FP Research Figure 4: Site Collage from FP Research Figure 5: Site Images Figure 6: Design Fundamentals Figure 7: Form Transformation Figure 8: Primordial Learning Spaces Diagram Figure 9: Program Adjacencies Diagram Figure 10: Program Relocatability Diagram Figure 11: Program Puzzle Axonometric A Figure 12: Program Puzzle Axonometric B Figure 13: Level 3 Plan Figure 14: Cross Section Figure 15: Site Plan Figure 16: Chunk Model Figure 17: Choisy Axonometric Figure 18: Level 1 Plan Figure 19: Level 2 Plan Figure 20: Level 4 Plan Figure 21: Level 5 Plan Figure 22: Longitudinal Section A Figure 23: Longitudinal Section B Figure 24: Front Elevation Figure 25: Side Elevation Figure 26: Level 4 Interior Rendering

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Final Project Sequence F19-S20

Gavin Walsh Gisela Baurmann Rensselaer School of Architecture May 2020 Master of Architecture