Architect: weisz + yoes wrchitecture + urban design A new addition to the burgeoning Hunt's Point community in the Bronx is the Bronx Charter School of the Arts, an elementary school founded in 2004 on the theory that arts education is a catalyst for the academic and social success of all students.
The floor plan of the 23,700-square-foot school combines a traditional school layout with an open design. Multi-use shared spaces called "pods" create learning zones that promote interaction between students and faculty. Music, art, and dance rooms that occupy the picture-windowed facade provide visibility from the street and connect the arts to the community. Filtered fresh air and north-facing-skylights supply the building with an ethereal aesthetic and healthy environment for children. "The project used any means at our disposal, which in this case meant using the roof and street wall to manipulate natural light, to undo some of the problems experienced in many institutional buildings, such as lack of orientation and neutrality of environment, to school-as-studio-space where the environment is tuned for creative work. The use of color on the exterior was a response to a bronx traadition of graffiti |
murals and signage and the use of vivid color to create an identity."
"This was the dark horse candidate. It was the kind of project that we wanted to see all day, where a dramatic budget was set against serious creativity in solving a problem in a very, very straightforward way. This is one of the few projects - and this was a surprise - that really went after sustainable as well as social issues." Weisz + Yoes Project Team: Claire Weisz, AIA, Mark Yoes, Jasmit Rangr, Ivonne Schickler
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