Continuing last year’s focus on communities, Bowie Gridley Architects completed its eighth semester of Architecture in Schools working with Kelly Fister’s First grade class at Ross Elementary, located by Dupont Circle.

BGA’s  Fall 2011 Project entitled  “Shaping Global Communities: Buildings around the World”  involved a team of  dedicated volunteers who participated in eight classroom lectures, beginning with an introduction to architecture.  Volunteers from Bowie Gridley Architects included: Sebastian von Marschall, Karen Andrews, Charmaine Josiah, Heather Wnuk, Rich Lyew, Kevin Moran, Lauren Dellinger, and Brian Walbridge.  The team was also assisted by Porche Baxter, Ms. Fister’s teaching assistant.  The lessons were driven by an open dialogue and hands-on work,  including sketching and model building.

Throughout the weekly meetings, students were engaged in exploring the foundations of community design and observing the makeup of buildings in their neighborhoods.  Students were also encouraged to document their findings in a sketchbook.  During a subsequent lesson on structures, the class worked in teams.  Each group of students collaborated to combine basic geometric shapes into complex buildings. Students were challenged to explore the diverse nature of buildings in communities around the world.  Together, the class examined how climate, aesthetics, population density and material availability influenced building design by focusing on five major building types: single family homes, equatorial bungalows, row houses, high-rise buildings and courtyard houses.  In the last three classroom sessions, students were challenged to apply the material studied with an emphasis on craftsmanship.  The final presentation on December 12th,  featured the culmination of their efforts — a globe populated by the five building types located in their respective geographic regions.  Each individual student built and detailed at least one building, using the fundamentals learned at the beginning of the semester.