A studio course project exploring schools without classrooms.

Approach

After research on the intersection of work and school choice in downtown Brooklyn, trends pointed toward more flexibility in future school programs. The proposal therefore centered on individualized learning plans that allow families to come and go as they please, and select among core class offerings on varying schedules. A series of residencies managed by the school provide affordable housing and workspace for visiting instructors — artists, designers, and fabricators who will likely be priced out of the fast-developing Navy Yards.

Taking into account environmental factors, the architecture responds to unpredictable daily schedules with a thermodynamic approach that sorts program by consistency of occupation, and matches spaces with heating and cooling strategies on a spectrum from “slow” to “fast.” Slow spaces are consistently occupied and rely on thermal mass, inertia, and insulation, and preserve the embedded energy of the existing brick houses. The regular rhythm of the Admiral’s Row is continued, but breaks down into a field condition of smaller, unprogrammed “fast” spaces. These spaces are immediately responsive through active radiant systems that turn on and off and interface directly with the user's body.

On a site scale, the school maintains public access to the waterfront through a series of piers and easements that cut through the privately-owned spaces of the Navy Yards. These walks and waterfront spaces are also available for students to interact with the ongoing restoration of the coastal ecology by the Army Corp of Engineers.

Professor Phu Hoang, MODU