Assignment 1: Westside Academy Courtyard: Steven Holl

Steven Holl is an American architect and artist. To me, his style mostly represents shapes within shapes. When I look through his artwork and architecture I feel like he started with a boxy shape and then cut shapes out of it. Philosophically and architecturally his style is referred to as phenomenology, a style that incorporates the architect’s personal experiences into his work, understanding that the building has a need to be there both presently and in the future and the building has purpose beyond what it is physically used for. Phenomenology elaborates on the relationship between the building and the environment it exists in, not so much the building itself. Each building designed with this approach is crafted in a manner that allows for the space to be used for many different functions. Designing a space to have multiple different uses allows for the space to be used over a long period of time for many different purposes.

The West Side Academy Courtyard is a space that will hopefully be used long after our project is completed. As we design the space I feel that we should incorporate many different features that have multiple uses and can be maneuvered around to allow for many different activities to take place. From educational to recreational, the courtyard should teachers and students to have an escape from the desks and classroom walls.

I think that different green components should be included in the project to allow for "life" to be brought to the space. A rain garden on the roof would be a non-invasive way of adding greenery to the space without taking up any ground area. Also, if the courtyard were to be set up with different tiers and level the space could be used for many different things all at once. Also, by providing different levels and tiers the space could be used for both recreational and educational purposes at the same time as well. Different classes cold be in the same space at once, or classes could be divided in different groups. No matter what we decide to do, we need to incorporate a way for the space to be used for multiple different purposes and be malleable to the needs of the class or students using the courtyard.