The Canopy

A middle school lifted off the ground, leaving a shaded public landscape beneath it.

Notes 備考

Environmental Middle School

Architecture · 2025

Poiesis III ·with Lawrence Cai

An architectural framework that mediates between public life, education, and the natural environment.

Rather than occupying the site as a solid object, the school is lifted above the ground, allowing social, ecological, and spatial systems to flow beneath and through it.

Concept drawing: a tower of classrooms crossed by elevated walkways, standing among dark trees above a river. — Concept Drawing

Axonometric of the school on its site, with four circular views of the spaces inside. — Axonometric

Columns, frames, and elevated platforms are expressed as part of the architectural language: a lightweight structure hovering above the landscape, and a structural response to the topography.

Two section perspectives: classrooms raised on columns above the sloping ground, with people, trees and an amphitheater below. — Section Perspectives

Close view of the white model: pitched frames, walkways and curved volumes. — Final model, 1/16" = 1'-0"

Above the open ground, the school is organized as a series of enclosed, semi-enclosed, and open learning environments, interwoven with platforms, walkways, and outdoor classrooms. Light, air, views, and vegetation become active participants in daily learning.

Three levels

Ground Floor Plan50 ft
The ground is a continuous open space, accessible to the public: an extension of the surrounding neighborhood.
First Floor Plan50 ft
Enclosed classrooms are interwoven with semi-open platforms, walkways, and outdoor classrooms.
Second Floor Plan50 ft
Movement between rooms exposes students to changing light, air, and views.

The whole final model on black: lifted classrooms, frames and curved volumes standing on slender columns, on a stacked base.

The final model: slatted screens along a classroom wing.

The final model: walkways crossing a courtyard between curved volumes.

Final model, 1/16" = 1'-0"

The chunk model on black, with a hand lifting away a roof piece.

Close view of the chunk model: slatted rooms and a long ramped walkway.

Chunk model, 1/8" = 1'-0"