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McClure Elementary School

Spring 1997
Teacher: Mary Ann Kesilman, Grade 4
Architect: Sam Olshin
Students: Gina Cincotta, Vernon Jones, Sheffield Wood

Map of Community

This team's objectives were to convey basic architectural and design vocabulary, open the students' eyes to their surroundings, and help them realize the effect of the built environment on social well-being. Their goals were to support the students in observing and understanding elements of local architecture and in creating an urban plan which improves the surrounding environment. To enable the students to understand the bird's eye view concept of plan, they drew plans and/or elevations of their own homes and created mazes which overcame given obstacles. They established a list of businesses needed within their community, and created storefronts with first floor stores and second floor living quarters. They took a walking tour of the neighborhood to examine architectural elements and details. To create their Master Plan for Hunting Park, the class was broken into four groups that respectively created green space, placed housing within the plan, created retail corridors and corner stores, and incorporated factories and recreational space. The students needed to work cooperatively within each group and needed to negotiate a compromise with other groups to complete their tasks. The architect procured a city planning map of the area, blew it up, and divided it into four quadrants. Each group took a turn adding their specific elements to one particular quadrant, and afterwards passed that quadrant on to the next group. This project allowed the students to take all of the previous lessons and use them as building blocks to establish a firm understanding of plans, business types and their neighborhood.

Map Enlargement: (99K)

Conference Room

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