OUTDOOR CLASSROOM
Overview
Title: Ronald Reagan High School Outdoor Classroom
Size: 48.26 cm x 73.66 cm (x2 posters) Medium: Printed Posters created on Photopea Date: April 2023 Exhibition Text
"Ronald Reagan High School Outdoor Classroom" is a collaborative project between Ronald Reagan art students and MIAD. This project was created with the objective to help ease the anxiousness created in enclosed classrooms, and allow students to learn in a more comfortable and effective environment. I wanted to incorporate calming colors and textures into my piece as well to create a pleasing atmosphere. Throughout this process I drew inspiration from the architectural works of Shigeru Ban and Andrea Cochran.
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INSPIRATIONS
When looking into architects for my outdoor classroom, I was really drawn to the work of Shigeru Ban, a Japansese architect who is well known for his innovative work with paper and recycled cardboard tubes. I really loved the simplistic, natural look of his work and wanted to try to incorporate this style into my own outdoor classroom. The light color palette of his designs is very visually appealing, and makes the spaces he designs seem comfortable. I was specifically drawn to two of his structures, New Zealand's Carboard Cathedral and Nine Bridges Country Club. When looking at both of these structures I was really drawn to the intricate detailing created by Ban, and the light airy look created through these details. I was also intrigued by the way he was able to manipulate his materials to create beautiful architecture. When designing the gazebo in my outdoor classroom, I took a lot of inspiration from the stained glass that Shigeru Ban featured in the Cathedral he created.
Uniting Communities: A place to gather:
Broadway Family Apartments Berkley Way West by Andrea Cochran by Andrea Cochran |
Nine Bridges Country Club New Zealand's
by Shigeru Ban Carboard Cathedral by Shigeru Ban I was also inspired by the work of Andrea Cochran, an American landscape architect. Andrea and her company create designs for many different environments, but while I was researching I was specifically looking at her pieces involving workplaces and academic buildings. I really loved the way that she creates modern looking spaces, while still incorporating aspects of nature. I particularly enjoyed the planters that she made for the trees in her design title A place to gather. I like the circular look of them, and how there's still plenty of usable space around the trees. I was inspired by the way that she was able to incorporate natural elements into a space and still make sure it's functional and practical. I want to be able to do the same thing with my final design; make a space that is aesthetically pleasing and also functional.
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PLANNING
Once I had all of the information I needed, I began to create a rough sketch of what I wanted aspects of my outdoor classroom to look like. I included the gazebo, and an overhead sketch of the possible layout inside of the gazebo. I figured that I would be able to make this gazebo the main space where lessons and classes take place. I also incorporated large glass panels on the roof, taking inspiration from the work of Shigeru Ban. I also created basic sketches for what the seating areas and overhangs of my outdoor classroom space could look like.
After getting feedback and critique from the group collaboration day, I went back to my sketchbook and went into more detail with my gazebo. I decided to add a ramp to the front of my gazebo rather than stairs in order to create accessibility. I also added a sliding glass door rather than an opening to the front of the gazebo due to possible rain and other weather. I also sketched out the roof of my gazebo, noting the large skylight windows that allow lots of natural light to enter the classroom. I drew an overview of the classroom layout and the way I wanted the teachers space to look.
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To begin my planning for the outdoor classroom, I first made an empathy map, collecting data about what I and other students see, think, feel, and hear. I was collecting a lot of data from people that involved the same types of information. Overall people wanted more collaborative spaces, no more bright overhead lights, comfortable seating, and just more engaging classrooms in general. I recorded all of this information and used it to begin brainstorming my ideas for the ideal outdoor classroom. I split up my planning into different sections, so that I could delve deeper into what I wanted to get out of this classroom. I really liked the idea of tables and flexible seating rather than desks with attached seats. I also knew I wanted to incorporate tons of natural light in my outdoor classroom which helped me to come up with the idea of skylights for the roof of my main structure. After mapping out all of my ideas, I created a mock layout for the layout of the outdoor classroom including a gazebo, and plenty of nature and collaborative spaces.
After I had created my initial sketch, my class had a collaborative sketch day. We all sketched our ideas onto whiteboards and then switched our whiteboards in order to get ideas and feedback on our work. Everyone was also able to present their ideas to the class as a whole, allowing everyone to understand their sketches. I had never done a collaboration like this before, and it was an extremely helpful part of my planning. I was able to borrow ideas that I liked from other people, as well as get feedback on my own ideas. This process benefited me a lot.
I also spent a lot of time drawing the gazebo in my outdoor classroom because I wanted this to be the main focus of not only my MIAD presentation, but also the main focus of the outdoor space. I also wanted to enlarge certain aspects of my gazebo like the windows and the roof. I also sketched out other major parts of my outdoor classroom space. Some of these parts include planters, benches wrapped around trees, and the other collaborative areas.
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PROCESS
After a few weeks of experimentation with Thorton on how to draw to scale, and how to diagram properly, it was time to begin making my actual posters to present my objective for the outdoor classroom. I drew out a layout of the items and general format of my posters, making sure to include all of the required sections of information.
I decided that for my next presentation I was going to place a main focus on the main structure of my outdoor classroom, the enclosed gazebo. I gathered all of the information that I would need to include on my two posters and began to work in Photopea to create them. |
Relflection after MIAD Critique: After my critique at MIAD I gained a lot of insightful information from professionals on how to improve my outdoor classroom. One main piece of advice was to include my empathy map onto my next poster in order to simplify and lay out the points I was making. It was also suggested that I make my birds-eye view sketch larger, and possibly add more color to my sketches. Another piece of advice I gained was to sketch out a picture of what I wanted the seating to look like in my outdoor classroom since it was an issue that was brought up by many students. I think the next critique I may also consider making two posters rather than one large one. I was able to gain a lot of helpful information from this critique that I'll be able to take with me throughout the rest of the project. |
The creation of the first poster was relatively easy because it mainly consisted of elements that I had already researched, or it was a part of my last poster. I tried to lay out my posters in a visually appealing way, following many of the tips that Thorton had given us such as lining up everything and using different sized images to create a visual hierarchy.
Once my first poster was complete, I moved onto the second one which consisted of my ideation sketches and more refined concept drawings. I was able to take a lot of the sketches I had made prior to this presentation and include them on this poster. I did make a few additional ones however to focus in on some parts of the structure that I hadn't gone into detail about yet.
After laying out my ideation sketches, I moved onto making my final concept sketches. For these sketches I used an online drawing app to create more finalized versions of my ideas in color. I drew one front view and one side view of the gazebo, and included dimensions and a person for reference of size. I also included three sketches of the finalized top, front, and side view of my outdoor classroom structure. |
EXPERIMENTATION
To make orthographic and isometric sketches, we used a paper cube to help view the different angles and perspectives of the cube. We experimented with how to draw the cube from different views while still keeping all the parts of it proportional.
Once we had established these skills, our first task was to create a scale drawing of our bedrooms using these skills that we had been practicing. I was able to draw a top view of my bedroom while using my newfound ability to proportionally multiply and divide squares. My final experimentation was to draw an orthographic sketch of the chair in my bedroom using the same technique as the mug. I drew a top, side, and front view of the chair. I used the techniques I had learned before of how to make sure the parts were proportionate and the lines were straight.
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A lot of the experimentation for this project happened through excercises with Thorton who helped us to create orthographic drawings, and how to make drawings in scale. We did a lot of simple excercises at first such as drawing straight lines, and then using those skills to help us learn how to multiply and divide boxes and still keep them proportional.
Our next task was to draw an orthographic sketch of a mug. We had the mug in front of at the table and viewed all of the different angles of the mug, and saw how you can only see certain parts of the mug from certain angles. I drew a top, front, and side view of the mug using the skills that we had learned before.
Overall all of this experimentation was very helpful to my final project, and gave me a new set of skills to use on projects in the future as well. I was able to use the orthographic and isometric sketches to show the different views of my gazebo, and show which details would be visible from different angles.
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CRITIQUE
There are a lot of similarities between my outdoor classroom design and the architectural work of Shigeru Ban and Andrea Cochran. For starters, all of our pieces use light and natural colors. Shigeru Ban used light cardboard to create his pieces, and I used a light wash wood to create mine. In addition, both my piece and Ban's piece "New Zealand's Cardboard Cathedral" have large triangular windows which allow lots of sunlight to enter the structures. Both my piece and Andrea Cochran's piece "A Place to Gather" were made with the intention of creating functional spaces for groups of people to gather. We both also incorporated pieces of nature into our pieces, and used them as inspirations for our structures.
There's also a lot of differences between my piece and my inspirations. First of all, the structure that I created was specifically made to be a classroom for students to study and learn in. Also my structure was created to be a part of an entire outdoor space, rather than my inspirations work which was created to be an entire thing itself. Another difference between our pieces is that I was given a specific objective to achieve. The goal of this project was to improve the current classrooms of the school by creating an outdoor space to help improve how students feel about school.
There's also a lot of differences between my piece and my inspirations. First of all, the structure that I created was specifically made to be a classroom for students to study and learn in. Also my structure was created to be a part of an entire outdoor space, rather than my inspirations work which was created to be an entire thing itself. Another difference between our pieces is that I was given a specific objective to achieve. The goal of this project was to improve the current classrooms of the school by creating an outdoor space to help improve how students feel about school.
REFLECTION
Overall, this was the most difficult piece I have ever created. This is a medium that I was previously unfamiliar with because I have never worked with anything architecture related before. In addition, this project was the longest project I had ever worked on, spanning over the course of multiple months and requiring me to have a lot of self discipline to get the project done. Through this piece I learned a lot of valuable skills that I will be able to use for projects in the future as well. I've learned about proportioning, and problem solving skills which I will be able to use not only for future artwork, but also for any other projects I work on in the future. My least favorite part of this project was how time consuming it was. It took a lot of time and effort to complete this piece, and it was very difficult to have self discipline and be responsible for getting the work done. My favorite part was being able to experiment with a medium I had never worked with before and help solve a problem in my local community. I hope that people are able to look at my piece Ronald Reagan High School Outdoor Classroom and consider the spaces that they spend a lot of time in, and how those spaces could be improved.
ACT QUESTIONS
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
My inspirations each inspired different parts of my design for the outdoor classroom. I was inspired by the aesthetics and layouts of my inspirations, and used that in my own piece.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors focused on outlining my inspirations work, and how they created their pieces, and what they used to create them.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have discovered that certain colors are associated with calmness, and how vital lighting and atmosphere can be to making a comfortable environment.
4. What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
How light, color, and aesthetic are used to create architectural pieces.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I inferred that my inspirations were focused on making their work visually appealing as well as functional.
My inspirations each inspired different parts of my design for the outdoor classroom. I was inspired by the aesthetics and layouts of my inspirations, and used that in my own piece.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors focused on outlining my inspirations work, and how they created their pieces, and what they used to create them.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have discovered that certain colors are associated with calmness, and how vital lighting and atmosphere can be to making a comfortable environment.
4. What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
How light, color, and aesthetic are used to create architectural pieces.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I inferred that my inspirations were focused on making their work visually appealing as well as functional.
CITATIONS (MLA)
“Work.” ACLA, 11 Nov. 2019, https://acochran.com/work/.
“Recent Projects Paper Tube Structures Timber and Bamboo Structures Houses and Housings Cultural, Commercial, Academic, Others Exhibition Design Competition Unbuilt Industrial Design Disaster Relief Projects.” Works | Shigeru Ban Architects, http://www.shigerubanarchitects.com/works.html.
“Recent Projects Paper Tube Structures Timber and Bamboo Structures Houses and Housings Cultural, Commercial, Academic, Others Exhibition Design Competition Unbuilt Industrial Design Disaster Relief Projects.” Works | Shigeru Ban Architects, http://www.shigerubanarchitects.com/works.html.