lessons of the landscape
The School as a Village; The Village as a School
The University of Virginia / Spring 2019
Professor: Mona El-Khafif
This project investigates the spatial qualities of the Montessori method for the purpose of developing an architectural prototype to nurtures and elevate its principles. While the Montessori approach offers profound educational and social promise, its small-scale, modest learning environments often exist as enclaves, detached from the vibrancy of the broader public realm. The proposal resolves typical isolation through a formal integration of school and residential community into a unified living-learning ecosystem.
A courtyard model forms the basis of the school’s design, integrating a series of distinctive landscapes into the educational experience in alignment with curriculum for each age group. The courtyard model rises vertically to produce dwelling structures, which follow the rhythym of the site’s topography. The boundary threshold between school and residential realms serves as a blank canvas for student murals, with central programs acting as a connective tissue to be shared with the community when school is not in session. The courtyards themselves manifest as semi-public microclimates where students, teachers, residents, and visitors can coexist while inviting nature into the heart of the built environment.