In its broadest sense, this research investigates how one should design the physical environment for the contemporary subject of the Digital Era. The ease and immediacy with which one can access the preponderance of information available through digital and electronic media has complicated the development and understanding of self-identity in popular culture, and by correlation how one engages with society. The significance of the public institution as a center for information exchange and civic engagement has diminished in favor of new media , which has become a staple at home and is trending increasingly mobile.


While architectural investigations of the past two decades contemplate the formal possibilities of digital technology and the affects of new media on physical objects, few architectural proposals consider how the proliferation of these media and technologies directly affect the subject in society. This project rethinks the design of the contemporary upper school as a model for considering the affects of new media on individual and community interaction, the dissemination of information and the evolution (dissolution?) of public institutions.


This thesis challenges contemporary formulations of identity and societal engagement in an age increasingly dominated by the proliferation of digital and electronic information and interaction through the proposition of an architecture which fosters critical awareness of the (re)presentations of actuality in new media and directs critical engagement between the new subject of the digital era and the public sphere.

My complete thesis preparation document can be viewed here: Rethinking the Contemporary School



Saturday, March 7, 2009

An Alternative Plan: School Design Concept

The school becomes a community center with components centered around a public plaza/park with shared spaces for each of the components, including a public library, gymnasiums, cafeterias, gathering spaces etc. The private spaces of the high school are a vertical continuation of the public plaza - the students project content into the public space, creating an interactive environment which they have some control in. Students use digital and electrical technologies to create a larger dialogue with the neighborhood.

The construction of each of the components and public space will build upon smaller, flexible modules which form a cohesive whole. Facades can become interactive screens controlled by the students/community.

Each of the building's height can allow for views into the neighborhood and its surrounds, as well as a view corridor to the capital. Connecting the school to the local community, the city, and the idea of the nation.

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