PRESCHOOL PLAY: A GOTHIC GARDEN
Chicago, USA
- Architects
- Architecture Is Fun
- Location
- Chicago, USA
- Year
- 2008
- Client
- St. Chrysostom's Day School
- Team
- Sharon Exley, Peter Exley, Fun Finders, Architecture Is Fun
A GOTHIC GARDEN FOR ST. CHRYSOSTOM'S DAY SCHOOL:
A cathedral of trees rescues a dreary, urban back alley; converting into an uplifting 450 square foot Gothic Children’s Garden into a place of delight, inspiration, creativity, and sanctuary designed for children at play and prayer in the out-of-doors. Soaring arches, reaching up to embrace the sky, articulate a purposeful space that feels larger than its physical boundaries.
The alley is adorned with art-making, the fire stair becomes a performance hall, and lofty vaults create canopies of artful wind chimes. This endearing architecture with its award-winning tracery, arches, vaults, peek-a-boo quatrefoil cutouts, and modular grid establishes its functional importance as a landscape for reflection, seeing, storytelling, gardening, and exploration, while building upon the historic church’s gothic sensibilities and emotive beauty.
Related Projects
Magazine
-
Winners of the 5th Simon Architecture Prize
6 days ago
-
2024, The Year in …
1 week ago
-
Raising the (White) Bar
1 week ago
-
Architects Building Laws
1 week ago