Sections: Aerial silks and life-drawing

The next operable component of the building after designing the brace was the divisible life-drawing class. I didn't quite understand the purpose of having the room split in two, and wanted to avoid just having a simple sliding door or partition just for the sake of fulfilling that requirement. For this reason, I went back to my previous projects and brought the rolling canvasses in to the equation, giving this wall a purpose now. My idea was to have rolls of canvasses embedded within the wall that could be pulled in and out. This was a practical idea for the space's purposes, but then I thought about how this idea could be pushed to really take advantage of this. From project 1, the purpose of the moving canvasses was to display the work of students to the public, so I redesigned this sliding wall to move vertically so it could be used in the cafe space beneath. It was angled to follow the geometry of the building and also to not completely block off space beneath. In the cafe section, visitors could then pull out these canvasses (which I made at different heights to accommodate different kinds of spaces to be created), and they would act as partitions to create nooks and semi-private spaces for patrons to sit in.

Here are the final operative plans collaged:

Partition raised with canvases used in life-drawing class.

Partition lowered with canvasses used in cafe seating area

From the parti diagram, this space would have been awkward as the entry to the building, so I adjusted it to make the movable space the silks area in front of this to also double as a foyer.

Basic research about aerial silks suggested that different heights were required for different skill levels, so again, I used the basic expansion/contraction system from the public seating to make the height adjustable. Below are the operable sections through the building to show both the life-drawing class and silks area (I didn't bother with a plan for the silks area as it wouldn't change form):

Section with partition raised in drawing class. Ceiling structure is also lowered in silks area for practice. School acts as a private building for education.

Section with partition lowered into cafe with canvasses pulled out to create nooks for patrons. Ceiling structure is retracted for silks performances as the school takes on a more public building nature to display its work.

Layered sections in operation