an old school
gsapp / m.arch / 2019
site: alphabet city, ny
instructor: Emmett Zeifman, Medium Office
Situated in Alphabet City, the abandoned CBJ Snyder school once host P.S. 64. The building served as a public school from 1907 to 1977 and then housed a couple of different community organizations. The new design considered the historical value of the existing building by preserving the skin and major vertical structure elements. The plinth of the old building opened up the school to adjacent streetscape where visual connectivities are allowed but not physical ones in order to protect the students’ safety. From the second floor up, with the new floors and partitions, the new K-8 school implements the self-learning education model. In which the students are able to select interest groups at a young age. The architecture allows for different configuration of the classrooms to form base on the size and time of the schedule and the will of students. Staggered floor plates within the wings also allowed for students in different interest groups to learn from each other and collaborate.
