To live a creative life we must lose our fear of being wrong (Joseph Chilton Pearce)
Using the above quote as inspiration, architects Mr Mariano Cavaleri and Mrs Abigail Shaw, both current St John’s parents, worked with Form 3 to design, build and construct a ‘city’ to scale, creating their own individual buildings and public spaces.
Having studied several famous architectural styles and methods of construction, the children thought about the function, form, context and structure of their building. They deliberated questions such as, ‘What are the surrounding buildings like?’, ‘How will my building be held up?’, ‘How will people occupy and move around the space?’ They also considered the impact on the environment and the community as well as design features. Each young architect was given a tile as their plot on which to build their model and began by drawing up designs. If they needed more land they were encouraged to combine their ideas with others and work on a joint building. They also had to scale their models with those around them and think about the need for green space.
One child commented, “It was exciting having so many factors to contemplate from the materials chosen to the symmetry of the building and how it will sit next to another. The model city took over the whole of the Drama Studio.”
