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Media Center

By Lily Jimenez | XL Design an Addition for your School

Overview Instructions

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Ralph Ellison Campus, Chicago

Many schools were designed for the past and don’t reflect the 21st century learning environment. Some buildings need better ventilation or lighting, while others are simply not large enough to accommodate students comfortably. For this project, you are encouraged to envision an improvement for your school, something that would benefit everyone who uses it. The most successful designs will be ones that identify a specific need and present a strong design solution. The challenge is to add something that changes the footprint of your school building, while addressing a specifically identified need. Projects should include research and development, real world images and information showing why the need exists, in addition to final project design and information.

Curie has a media center with outdated books and technology. I wouldn't even consider it a media center as a matter-of-fact, I think the only purpose it serves is it gives students a chance to print out documents. The books are old, outdated, and unused because no one bothers to check them out. The goal of my project it to change that. I want to make our media center an actual media center with up to date books and technology. The plan is for students to find use to the new technology, books, and for Curie to finally have a real media center.

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Reeds Spring High School Addition, Reeds Spring, MO

Think About

  • What is the size of your school building? Using Google Earth and other online resources, generate a site plan for your school location.
  • What are your initial thoughts about the building? For example, is your school lacking room for art classes? Physical education? Band practice space? Common areas? Cafeteria space?
  • Talk to someone who has been at your school for a while, like a teacher or administrator. They will most likely have great insight as to what areas could stand to be improved.
  • Has anything like this ever been done in the past? If so, what were the results?
  • For more research, we recommend looking at “The Third Teacher: 79 Ways You Can Design to Transform Teaching & Learning,” by OWP/P Architects + VS Furniture + Bruce Mau. The book is easy to digest with lots of great images and design ideas, meant to inspire readers like you. The website for the book is also a great resource.
  • Search online for newly built schools and others that have been upgraded through similar processes. Do you notice anything in common among newly built schools?

Lily Jimenez's work for the Collect Information step:

Summary
I personally went to our media center and looked around as well as I took pictures of the primary area.
This is a photo of our media center, as you could see there is a lot of work to be done.
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This is a picture of our homework area and reading area. As you could see we don't have a lot...
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This is our ugly, old, nasty carpet that I plan to replace with flooring.
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These are some of the computers students get to use when they have a class in the media center. My...
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Here you see all the unused space that could be used for classes.
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Karns High School Addition Plan, Knoxville, TN

Identify the problem you want to solve based on the information you have collected.

Explore at least three possible solutions, each of which will no doubt help you as you search for the best addition to your school.

  • What could your ideas look like?
  • How would it change the landscape of your school?
  • Who will benefit most from your design solution?

Try to answer these questions visually through sketching, and in words by taking notes.

Lily Jimenez's work for the Brainstorm Ideas step:

Summary
I've done a couple sketches to start brainstorming what I want to do to the media center.
This is another sketch I've made of the primary things that are found in the media center with...
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This is a sketch with a couple of notes I've made about what I want to do with the media...
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This is the floor plan of Curie's second floor where the media center is.
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In this picture I circled and marked a couple of rooms in the media center that are and aren't...
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This is a rendering of the media center before I've made any of my changes.
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Fridley High School Addition Plan, Fridley, MN

From the previous step, where you developed multiple solutions to the design problem, you should select one of your designs.

  • What is your favorite design? Why?
  • What aspects of your school would it improve?
  • Who would benefit most from your new design?
  • What materials would you be using, and why?

Ideally you will want to create plans of some kind to communicate your final vision, so start to sketch site plans, elevations, and even a floor plan if necessary.

Lily Jimenez's work for the Develop Solutions step:

Summary
I developed solutions by changing the layout of the media center and by adding things that would better it and that would made the media center an actual media center.
This is a rendering of some bookcases and sofas that I have added to create an isolate reading area...
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This is rendering of the media center with some of the changes I've made.
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This is a different view of the media center showing a couple of the rooms it has.
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This is another view of the media center before I made my changes.
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This is a rendering of the media center that shows a couple of the rooms.
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This an idea that I had which was to put computer desks near the reading area. But later I changed...
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Alexander Graham Bell School Addition, Chicago

Present your final design to your class, to get feedback before completing your project. If you talked to other people while working on and researching for this project, show them your design and get their feedback. If they talked to you before, they will want to see what you’ve created! Take notes during these conversations, and try to understand their suggestions before deciding if you wish to make any changes to your final design.

Carefully take stock of feedback from others and do your best to find the information that will help you finalize your project. Someone might tell you something seemingly small, but that bit of information might be the difference between a good project and a great one.

Lily Jimenez's work for the Final Design step:

Summary
In my final design I added all of the last little touches to my work.
This is a reading/socializing area that I have added to the media center.
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In this picture of one of the views of the media center.Here you could see the front desk I have...
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This is the floor plan after I have made my changes.
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This is one of the classrooms I decided to add into the media center. I have added laptops in case...
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This is a reading area that I have added for silent reading.
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