Instructor Matthew Brooks - ARC254
Proposed site - Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, KY
Group proposal - Kyle Schilling, Lucas Lima, Meg Barker
Proposed site - Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, KY
Group proposal - Kyle Schilling, Lucas Lima, Meg Barker
SHAKER VILLAGE SCHOOL OF CRAFT
The Shaker Village School of Craft is a proposal for a learning facility aggregated to the historical monuments of the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill in Kentucky. Surrounded by buildings dating back to the 1880s, the school of craft is intended not only as a cutting-edge educational center on textiles and woodworking but also as an additional stop to the visitor experience of Pleasant Hill.
Programmatically, the school of craft counts with a large workshop for woodworking, a textile workshop, an entrance lobby, a visitor and student gallery, as well as classrooms and faculty offices.
Similarly, the formal language of this project takes some of the form of the primitive hut, with large interior spaces and a gabled roof. However, the roofline is articulated in modules to denote the different programs of the space inside. This is due to the designer’s intention to make this structure as appealing as possible to students and visitors, while also not detracting from the traditional form of the Shaker buildings that surround the school in East Village.
The materials intended for use in the school of craft are mainly cross-laminated timber and reclaimed bricks. The reason behind this choice is to ensure that this structure has the least impact possible on the natural environment of Pleasant Hill.
The gallery space is proposed as a free-standing, curved, brick enclosure. This formal choice would give students a chance to present their work in an environment that clearly enhances attention and viewing experience. Additionally, the curved walls would ensure that this space is structurally sound, and possibly aid in the acoustics of the interior to provide a better presentation space for students.
The gallery space would also be possibly used by the general administration of Shaker Village as a year-round gallery of student work for all visitors.
As seen in the adjacent images, the proposal for the school of craft is marked by a somewhat strong articulation of the structural elements in the workspaces.
The inverted gable roof in the woodworking space creates an opportunity to let natural light in through expansive windows. In addition to that, the positioning of the project is chosen so that the longitudinal axis of the school is aligned with the West-East sun path on site. This allows for optimal illumination from the south-facing studio windows, and ventilation opportunities in the roofline from the East-directed winds of Pleasant Hill.
