Booker T. Washington High School for the Visual and Performing Arts, Competition
Dallas, Texas
The Booker T. Washington High School for the Visual and Performing Arts project was one of four finalist entries to a competition sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. The design sought to enhance the school's programmatic and educational goals, as well as its cultural position within the community and the Dallas Arts District. The intent was to provide a distinctive cultural statement that resonated with other significant buildings in the Arts District and nearby downtown.
Blunt sculptural forms respond to the tough urbanism of the site, the city skyline and nearby art district buildings. The building's mass is pushed to the perimeter on the north, east and south sides, developing a central courtyard oriented towards the arts district and downtown. The theater is sited on the northwest corner, addressing in scale the adjacent elevated highway. The four-story mass of the north-south bar at the east side of the site serves as a gateway to the arts district when approached from the east. To the south, an existing school building forms the courtyard edge. The southwest-facing courtyard and the pedestrian entry at the southwest corner of the site connect the school to the arts district and downtown. The forms are responsive to the site and to the programs served. The distribution of the program spaces integrates academics and the arts through adjacencies and transparency. The forms call for creativity: the requisite simplicity of a no-nonsense workspace is balanced with inspiring architecture. Circulation spaces serve as galleries that expose students, faculty and the community to the broad range of activities and pursuits at the school. Planted roofs contribute to the project's goals of sustainability.
Please see our Flash website at www.charlesrosearchitects.com for a more complete representation of this project.
Dallas, Texas
The Booker T. Washington High School for the Visual and Performing Arts project was one of four finalist entries to a competition sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. The design sought to enhance the school's programmatic and educational goals, as well as its cultural position within the community and the Dallas Arts District. The intent was to provide a distinctive cultural statement that resonated with other significant buildings in the Arts District and nearby downtown.
Blunt sculptural forms respond to the tough urbanism of the site, the city skyline and nearby art district buildings. The building's mass is pushed to the perimeter on the north, east and south sides, developing a central courtyard oriented towards the arts district and downtown. The theater is sited on the northwest corner, addressing in scale the adjacent elevated highway. The four-story mass of the north-south bar at the east side of the site serves as a gateway to the arts district when approached from the east. To the south, an existing school building forms the courtyard edge. The southwest-facing courtyard and the pedestrian entry at the southwest corner of the site connect the school to the arts district and downtown. The forms are responsive to the site and to the programs served. The distribution of the program spaces integrates academics and the arts through adjacencies and transparency. The forms call for creativity: the requisite simplicity of a no-nonsense workspace is balanced with inspiring architecture. Circulation spaces serve as galleries that expose students, faculty and the community to the broad range of activities and pursuits at the school. Planted roofs contribute to the project's goals of sustainability.
Please see our Flash website at www.charlesrosearchitects.com for a more complete representation of this project.
