Studio 1

VERTICALIZING: High rise schools. . . a new architectural type?

Isabel Lasala

Studio Description

The exponential growth that is currently undergoing in Australia's major cities has brought significant changes in urban programs and activities.

Primary and secondary schools don’t escape this situation.

As the key buildings in the fabric of most communities, schools are experiencing significant change, in particular as the population is growing at speed, and the land available is scarce and expensive.

As a way to deal with this new condition, the Australian Government has started to “think about education vertically."

This translates into seven vertical schools currently being built, all in the most populated areas of our major cities.

This situation presents us with an opportunity to explore new forms of spatial organisation, and propose different formal and spatial configurations that might eventuate into a new type of building.

This studio thus seeks to explore these new design opportunities, and provide students with the opportunity to re-think primary and secondary schools.

A key challenge to address is to re-organise a program that normally requires a considerable plan size.

Students will have the opportunity to formulate their own conceptualization of what a contemporary vertical school might be, and in particular challenging the boundaries between interior and exterior space.

One of the key questions that the studio will raise is if the iconic school courtyard could be verticalized.

Another key question is if, given this new vertical condition, we will have to consider the image of the school in an urban, vertical condition.

The studio also asks students to implement a specific design strategy, based on challenging the disciplinary boundaries that exist between architecture and landscape architecture.

With this, it is expected that students will explore with the untapped relationships that exist between these two apparently different disciplines.

The intention is to offer students with the opportunity to create the singular spatial experiences and atmospheres that can be produced by the ambiguous spatiality that emerges from their combination.

The project’s site will be located in one of Melbourne’s inner suburbs, surrounded by mix-use and different density buildings.

To summarise, in this studio, students will be presented with the opportunity of exploring the potential relationships that might exist between architecture and landscape architecture; and between interior and exterior space while reflecting on a site-oriented project that acknowledges the importance of redefining existing programs through strategies that seek to emphasize the importance of public buildings in the city.

Studio Leader

Isabel Lasala is one of the Directors of Lasala & Lasala Architects, an award-winning practice with more than fifteen years of experience. Isabel holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Universidad Central de Venezuela, a Master of Architecture from ETSAB/Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, and an MPhil in Landscape Architecture from University of New South Wales. Her practice-based research investigates new possibilities emerged at the intersection of architecture and landscape architecture. In 2014, Ediciones FAU/UCV published her book Creating Places: Exalting and Overcoming the Architectural Object in the Work of Pablo Lasala. Before settling in Australia in 2009, Isabel was a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of UCV. Here, she has taught design studios at Melbourne University, Monash University, RMIT, UNSW, and University of Technology Sydney.

Reading & Reference

• Andersen, B 2003, Alvar Aalto and Jorn Utzon: An Architecture of Ancient Gathering Forms, University of Aalborg, Aalborg.
• Cosgrove, D 1999, Mappings, Reaktion Books, London.
• Galofaro, L 2002, Artscapes. Art as an approach to contemporary landscape, Gustavo Gili (Land&ScapeSeries), Barcelona.
• Gehl, J 2001, Life between buildings: using public space, Island Press, Washington DC
• Jay, M 1994, Downcast Eyes. The Denigration of Vision in Twentieth-Century French Thought, University of California Press
• Leatherbarrow, D 2009, Architecture oriented otherwise. Princeton Architectural Press, New York.
• Martinez, A 2005, Dwelling on the roof, Gustavo Gili, Barcelona.
• Petschek, P 2008, Grading for landscape architects and architects, Birkhauser, Basel -  Boston – Berlín
• Rossi, A  2000, The architecture of the city, Opposition Books. Chicago and New York.
• Ruby, I & A 2006, Groundscapes The rediscovery of the ground in contemporary architecture, Gustavo Gili (Land&ScapeSeries), Barcelona.
• Sola-Morales, I 1999, Differences: Topographies of Contemporary Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston.

Schedule 9:30AM-4PM Monday and Thursday in MSD Room 227

Contact Handbook Key Dates