LIVING ROOM DESIGN|BUILD FOR

GALLOWAY ELEMENTARY IN JACKSON, MS

Fall 2019 to Fall 2020 - Profs. Cory Gallo, Hans Herrmann,

Situation

The “Living Room” at Galloway Elementary School is an outdoor learning space designed for teachers across academic subjects to pull learning and classroom activities outside. The garden features learning structures such as chalkboards, storage and a workbench to facilitate curricular activities alongside garden activities. The intents of the living room is to provide a flexible space for gathering and outdoor learning. This garden is the first of three school gardens produced by a collaboration between MSU’s Dept. of Landscape Architecture, School of Architecture, and Dept of Graphic Design.

The Team

The Department of Landscape Architecture at MSU developed a modular system of sub-irrigated planters and hoops using off the shelf agricultural parts. This system has been replicated and adapted so far to three additional school learning gardens in Mississippi. The School of Architecture produced the classroom structures and 3D printed concrete stems and benches. The Department of Graphic Design created colorful ground paintings for activity

Context

The garden was commissioned by the Fertile Ground Project, a city-wide arts imitative. Galloway Elementary is located within the extensive food deserts of Jackson, MS. The garden is intended to be a playful, artful space for children to get excited about nutrition. Since Galloway, MSU has worked on three other school gardens, such as the Partnership school depicted to the left.

areas and walkways, as well as educational surface graphics covering each planter.

The Classroom Structures

The classroom structures are a set of three “petals” that conclude the winding patterns of the planter structures. The largest is a storage room with a chalkboard with two smaller structures for a second chalkboard and workbench. The structures are curved in plan and section to follow the hoop system. The fabrication process began with

Rhino models that were then sliced into “waffle” structures through Grasshopper and Bowerbird. The “waffles” are made of slotted plywood fins that were CNC milled and rapidly assembled together. The plywood fins were stiffened through dimensional lumber.

Timeline And Roles

CONCEPTUAL DESIGN, 2019

In the fall, I assisted with early conceptual design, including precedent studies, modeling and renders.

SCHEMATIC DESIGN, 2020

I assisted with early modeling work on the 3d printed concrete benches, but focused mainly on the design and fabrication process for the three classroom structures.

CONSTRUCTION, 2020

I was involved in the CNC milling and assembly of the classroom structures. I was also involved in the majority of the on-site construction for the garden.

Ongoing Works

MSU has adapted the kits of parts started at Galloway Elementary to different sized schools, such as Leland Middle school (bottom left image), Mississippi State University Partnership Middle School (bottom right image) and Itta Bena Blues Garden.