CHICAGO TRIP:

Montessorri School:
1. hallway as a space for working, hangout spaces in hallway carved between classrooms
2. human scale of objects changes depending on the size of the child (i.e. the grade of the child) - we could possibly use this idea with ceiling heights of classrooms and openings in walls (windows, doors)
3. the theories of teaching - the woman who gave us a tour emphasized the importance of listening and conversing with the client; in this situation, since we are designing a hypothetical school with no actual client, Heain and I need to outline what we believe are important social issues within the school (i.e. how are the children being taught? what is interaction between classrooms and grades going to be like? what are the schools main principals of thought, learning, etc.). Some of the things we thought were really awesome about the Montessorri school was the emphasis on letting the children learn what they are passionate about. In addition, there was a concentration on having the children teach each other and working in group projects. The school thrived on interaction, conversation and working with each other.
4. large program spaces don't necessarily need to be shared between the entire school - an example would be the gym for the younger kids and a gym for older kids (it wasn't actually built yet at the near north school)
5. intersection of classrooms and other program - in Heain and I's latest iteration, there is a separation between classrooms, labs, cafe, library, etc. There needs to be more weaving of these spaces and visual contact between them.


OMA:
1. hangout spaces in odd shaped, carved out spaces between public circulation and private computer area
2. ramps as separators between public circulation areas and more private programs.
3. the play with using the section (floor heights, ceiling heights) and materials as a way of separating or defining different spaces, but maintaining a visual connection between them.