Kern Park Elementary School
Spring 2016 / Architectural Design II / Mo Zell
This project entailed situating a public, K-6 school within a public park in Milwaukee, WI. An elementary school is a system of environments. These environments accommodate educational, social, recreational, environmental, and community needs. An elementary school is one of the first “institutions” a child encounters. Therefore, to ease the transition, and reduce the perception of school as a monolithic, uninviting institution, the classrooms were proportioned and arranged from residences in the surrounding area. The sequencing of classroom, outdoor areas, and biomes was determined by a pattern found in a nearby block.
The school is based on a Project Based Learning (PBL) model. A PBL classroom must have the capacity to accommodate five activity zones: Presenting, Collaborating, Investigating, Creating, and Sharing. Each of these zones were sized based on typical residential room proportions. Four different zone configurations were created to meet the needs of the classroom as they change throughout the day. The pattern on the floor indicates the areas for each of the set ups, and moveable furniture within the room allows for the room to easily be transformed into the configurations.
Additionally, the school was used as a means to comment on the Anthropocene era and speculate about what the future
of schools would look like should the extreme effects of the Anthropocene era become a reality. Since the environment is defined by architecture and inseparable of it, biomes were placed throughout the school. This is done with respect to the Anthropocene era—the period in which human activities have begun to have a significant global impact on Earth’s geology and ecosystems. Through the introduction of the biomes, the school becomes a host for the ecosystems. It engages with environments in a new way, but also serves to catalyze human engagement with the natural world. The biomes within the school attempt to transform human relationship and understanding with the environment. This strategy situates humans, specifically children, within the world, and is a medium through which future generations could be educated and inspired to solve the problems caused by the Anthropocene era.
of schools would look like should the extreme effects of the Anthropocene era become a reality. Since the environment is defined by architecture and inseparable of it, biomes were placed throughout the school. This is done with respect to the Anthropocene era—the period in which human activities have begun to have a significant global impact on Earth’s geology and ecosystems. Through the introduction of the biomes, the school becomes a host for the ecosystems. It engages with environments in a new way, but also serves to catalyze human engagement with the natural world. The biomes within the school attempt to transform human relationship and understanding with the environment. This strategy situates humans, specifically children, within the world, and is a medium through which future generations could be educated and inspired to solve the problems caused by the Anthropocene era.
