South End School for the Performing Arts
Urban Design and Performing Arts High School
Spring 2015
Over the past five years, I’ve had the privilege to explore the many distinct neighborhoods of the city that I now call home. From the North End to Roxbury, Cambridge to Southie, each neighborhood has its own unique sense of community. Home to many diverse groups, gourmet restaurants, contemporary art spaces, and beautiful parks, the South End quickly became my favorite area of Boston. In order to expand its already strong cultural presence, a new proposal asks for the design of one city block adjacent to Blackstone Square centered around a school for the performing arts.
The design that followed aims to be a performance in and of itself. A perimeter style master plan creates a series of public plazas that follow and break symmetry to reveal the presence of the performing arts center. Inside the school itself, a central grand stair creates different dynamics reminiscent of those in The Palais Garnier where the theatre goers and students alike become part of the performance itself. Including studios and classrooms for music, dance, theatre, and general studies, this design plays with different aspects of transparency and visual connection to provide students with a variety spaces where they can both perform their own art and simultaneously observe the experiences around them.