SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

Spring 2022

Second Year Design Studio, ARC 2021A

Cal Poly Pomona Architecture (CPP/ARC)

Instructor: Jeehye Kim

What does a school require? This project proposes a different approach to how a school is conceptualized. Located on the Cal Poly Pomona campus, this new school of architecture challenges the facade of large institutions and literally begins to break it apart. The project takes the site into consideration and begins to break it apart into building blocks. These building blocks are shifted and pulled in various directions to create a new “in-between’ spaces within the plinth. In the plinth, the in-between space results in courtyards providing a place of refuge for students between classes. The shifting and creation of the courtyard spaces are bounded by a singular module. Differences in exterior facade treatment distinguish the walls that have been separated from each other.

The courtyards help dissolve the overpowering diamond shaped boundary of the site, allowing the project to blend well with the rest of campus.

The tower of the project follows a similar system of shifting building blocks. Program blocks are pulled apart from the main tower massing, forming spaces in between that have inherent connections to the program adjacent. The in-between spaces become opportunities for outdoor learning, public galleries, and places to reconnect with the larger campus. The facade of the tower is cloaked in a metal mesh that widens and shrinks according to programmatic concerns and the transformation of the building blocks.