figural threshold

public school trenton new jersey

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the proposed k-12 public school for Trenton Central High West carves a series of open-air corridors and courtyards. two grids are overlaid on the site to construct solids and carve voids: orthogonal courtyards and triangulated outdoor corridors.

the orthogonal solidity of building mass houses classrooms, auditoriums, barthooms, and locker rooms. the triangulated threshold is cut as overhang or elevated walkway in completion of the figure and to distinguish circulation for the different schools: kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high schools on a single site.

as an idea at multiple scales, figural threshold is legible as a banding operation cut by multiple voids, or as nested volumes inscribed into one another.