Design and Experience, Secondary Schools for Cambridge
by Dennis J. Fogarty
B.S. M.I.T. 1973
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
Degree of Master of Architecture
for the
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
January 1975
Author .
Depar met of Architecture, January 22,1975
Certified by.
-
7-
Thesis Supervisor
Accepted by
Chairman, Departmental Committee on Graduate Students
ARCHIVES
ABSTRACT
Design and Experience, Secondary Schools For Cambridge
by Dennis J. Fogarty
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
Degree of Master of Architecture
for the
Purpose of Thesis
Realizing that learning occurs by experiencing and
imagining experience, and that learning is necessary to decision making,
the purpose is to Design by considering experiences.
Project
Drawing on the activity and organization of this city
as the subject of Secondary Education, and working from
the Secondary Schools proposals completed for the School
Committee of Cambridge, I assembled a program of opportunities available in the city.
Then, for the major location, I developed site plans,
in which the school was part of the organization of that
neighborhood of the city.
Deciding on one of the site proposals, I designed
the new school facilities as a series of places used by
independent groups.
Thesis Supervisor:
R. C. Tremaglio
Contents
Title Page
1
Abstract
2
Introduction
4
Part ONE.
Organization of the School
Part TWO.
Site Planning
11
Part THREE.
Designing of New Facilities
19
Bibliography and sources
4
26
Note to Reader:
The written text is included as an explaination
of what may be seen in the drawings.
3.
Introduction
The process of this project has been to gather as much
understanding of the Secondary school sit uation as possible,
and to develop a strategy for the' occurrance of Secondary Education, that I might then design school facilities for this
The planning and designing has occurred in three parts,
city.
the Organization of a School in this city, Site Planning for
the major site, and Designing of New Facilities for that site.
It is intended that this work develop design of experiences to
a point useful in the planning of the Secondary Schools.
ONE- Organization of the School
Education is a vehicle to acquire ability to act, and
a need to learn. Then learning should
experience creates
involve experience, and study of the activities of the city.
For this reason I have regarded all of the city as possible
sites for Secondary Education, and selected locations which
might be interesting and available for school facilities.
Since students would move through the city to study locations,
each site would be a facility of the school rather than a
school itself. But rather than expect to have the community
provide the secondary education, I expected that small segments
of the school could be transplanted to centers of activity,
and at these places the operations of offices, businesses,
and industries could be studied. From a west Cambridge site
Industrial operations could be studied, and from Harvard Sq.
could occur the study of Business and Planning projects. Each
of these segments would be part of a Constellation located at a
major school site.
On the map are located the two major sites, Broadway and
the City Land Fill. I have noted some possible locations for
small facilities after some slight understsnding of the C.I.T.Y.
program, a current study for the Educational uses of Mass. Ave.,
and the Philadelphia Parkway School.
I
5.
Qks
ONE
Working from the two Secondary School studies, A + B,
I formulated two school organizations:
C. By which schoolhouses could be located in different
parts of the city, one at Broadway and one at the City Land Fill;
with occupational clusters at either site, and students moving
between a schoolhouse, an occupational cluster, amd the small
facilities.
D. By which there could be one general studies group,
and five occupational clusters. These could be located in the
city according to available sites and proximity to similar
professional activity.
In order that students could study courses in and about
more than one occupation, and since students would travel to
study locations, I saw a need for a general studies facility.
Academic studies could be the basis for these general studies,
and as a facility they could form a pathway, or introduction,
to the more specific studies in occupations.
Students and staff would participate in the general studies
group and in an occupational cluster.
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ONE
The strategy for locating the facilities involved identifying the characteristics of the sites.
City Land Fill- as a place close to Industrial operations
and Fresh Pond, with athletic facilities, skating
rink, and less dense activity.
Broadway site- close to, and involved in the city activity
with a Library, Park, and athletic building for
community use
Rindge building- made especially as a classes facility
CHLS site- a place to build independently new types of
school facilities
These characteristics are more permanent than educational
programs. Then, a school facility located accordingly, as a
facility in an area of the city, might be more likely to withstand
the changing nature of educational programs. At the same time
the locations offer opportunities for different experiences within
one school;
this could not occur within a single-facility school.
Locations:
City Land Fill site- Engineering and Natural Resources Cl.
Communications Cluster
some General Studies
Field House
Dining
Broadway site-
Business Administration and Human Res. Cl.
Communications Cl.
Auditorium
Media facility
General Studies
Food Service
TWO-
Site Planning
Site planning for the Broadway site occurred through two
sets of considerations; one, the organization of the school,
and the other was the role or areas of the site in the surrounding
neighborhood. Site Study A is a zonning of the kind of use for
each area on and near the site. It is a basis from which I could
locate and define activities so that they might occur without
disrupting each other. By directing movement and locating two
zones, one for school use and one for community use, it is possible for a Park, Library access, recreation areas, School access,
and street trafic to occur adjacent to each other.
Through this zonning each area of the site acquired a strong
use or identity. These identified uses mean, that as educational
needs change one type of facility may change independently of
others. For example, Rindge may be sola or replaced, the
Auditorium may become used primarily by the community, or the
New types of Facilities may be designed independently of rehabilitated buildings.
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TWO
Into the Rinage classes tacility I located class spaces
for the General Studies,( English and Languages), the Administration, and two Occupational clusters,( Human Resources and Business Ad.), on the upper floors. In order that each cluster
might be entered without passing through another, an addition
of open stairways and entrance areas could be made to the east
side of the Rindge building.
Facilities comprising new types of spaces and equipment
( labs, dining, Media, Auditorium ), could be built along the
public area of Broadway, also including some General Studies
areas.
As a way of strengthening the use of the Library, itself,
the Park, the war Memorial, and a new Auditorium could form an
area for community use.
As a model, the hospitals along Cambridge St. are located
on half-blocks so that public movement into them does not occur
through the adjacent housing. The closed edge (property boundary ), makes it possible for the housing to remain a large
stable group, and protects an area of the institution's site.
With this in mind, the Ellery street housing might be replaced on the vacant and parking lots along Hovey street, so
that it might be in a more private, stable place. Along the
closed edge of the enlarged site the neighborhood could have
a recreation area on raised ground. A parking garage could be
shared by the hospitals and school facilities.
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THREE-
Designing of New Facilities
In order that Occupational clusters and General Studies
departments may organize their spaces independently, I have
designed the facility as a series of ouildings connected along
an entrance way. This way occupies the position of a courtyard
in the old school facility. Movement through this way, which
consists of Resources areas and some class areas for the General
Studies, would allow a survey of the activities and places
occurring inthe clusters, or in other school facilities.
Each department has two sizes of class areas, for 100 and
200 students.
This is based upon the assumption that 4 or5
teachers and 100 students could form a General Studies group.
,The Small Classes area has light from one side; the Large Classes
area has light from both sides, with a core area, for stairs
and light, in its center.
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Designing of New Facilities
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Bibliography and sources
Programs;
A Program for the Cambride Hi h Schools.
Rill, MilliiF~ 7riedlaender,
oander,
Inc.
Cambridge, Massachusetts 1972
Cambridge
Dump Site, Re-Use Analysis.
epartment of Planni'ng and~Te-ivlopment, Cambridge,
Massachusetts May 1973
Community Iateraction Through Youth. Cambridge School
Dpartment. Annual Report 1973
Educational Reguirements and Site Analysis for Hi h
School Facilities.
Collins, ecirge J.
Catiaiano, nduardo.
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1974
A Study for Educational Uses of Massachusetts Avenue,
Boston to Concord.
Dorine Blanc. unwritten. Educational
Development Co. Boston Massachu.setts.
Books
Gross, R., Osterman, P.
and Schuster 1972
High School. New York,, Simon
"Office Building, Centraal Beheer."
September/October, 1974. pp50.
Architecture Plus,
Sullivan, Louis.
Autobiography of an Idea.
DoverPublications, 1956.
New York
Maps
City of Cambridge,
Dept. of Planning and Development .
Broadway site, Hill, Miller, Friedlaender, fiollanderInc.