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P.S. 156, I.S. 293, Brooklyn, New York.

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Title: P.S. 156, I.S. 293, Brooklyn, New York.
Language: English
Authors: Kolleeny, Jane F.
Source: Architectural Record. Mar 2003 191(3):140-143.
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 4
Publication Date: 2003
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Descriptive
Descriptors: Building Design, Building Innovation, Construction Management, Educational Facilities Planning, Elementary Schools, Facility Case Studies, Photographs, School Buildings
Geographic Terms: New York (New York)
ISSN: 0003-858X
Abstract: Describes the title school building, including the educational context and design goals. Includes information on the architects, manufacturers/suppliers, and construction team; a general building description; and a commentary on the design. Also includes the floor plan and photographs. (EV)
Entry Date: 2003
Accession Number: EJ668011
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0009346593;arr01mar.03;2003Mar24.09:44;v1.9</anid> <title id="AN0009346593-1">P.S. 156, I.S. 293 </title> <sbt id="AN0009346593-2">Brooklyn, New York</sbt> <p>3 WITH A JEWEL-LIKE PRESENCE, MITCHELL/GIURGOLA ARCHITECTS' SCHOOLHOUSE STANDS TALL.</p> <p>In the mid-1800s, tract homes and high-density tenements changed a once-rural Brownsville into a dreary urban neighborhood in southwestern Brooklyn. Effectively a slum, with unpaved streets and no sewers, it was home to struggling first-generation Jewish immigrants who worked in Manhattan's garment district. After World War II, it was abandoned by the industry's more successful entrepreneurs, who were replaced predominantly by African-Americans. Although efforts were made in the 1970s and '80s to upgrade the area, it remains neglected today.</p> <p>Brownsville needed a hero, and it appeared in the form of this school, which encompasses almost a full city block and plays a vital civic role in the rough and tumble neighborhood. Doubling as a community resource center, the building is utilized by most of the local families for performances, sports, and social and educational events. It replaces a 1908 school building on the same site that had been vandalized and was subsequently demolished, in 1993, because it contained asbestos and lead.</p> <p> <bold> Program </bold> The new school accommodates 200 gifted seventh and eighth graders and 900 K-6 students. One long wing of the four-story building is composed mostly of classrooms, with the gym, cafeteria, library, and other public areas clustered in the other wing so that classrooms can be secured when the school is closed.</p> <p>An Annenberg grant for art made it possible to offer the kids an enriched arts program. These funds helped create two arts classrooms, a dance studio, music room, recording studio, and a 416-seat, stadium-style auditorium. Principal Martha Torres, a cheerful, assertive woman who displays a combination of sternness and gentleness befitting a school principal, finds art to be a most effective teaching tool: “We present art in a multidisciplinary way—we discuss cultures, and the students explore them in every conceivable way—through dance, art, music, history, literature. Art saves these students.”</p> <p> <bold> Solution </bold> As the central theme of the curriculum, art is also reflected in the school's design. The most visibly compelling part of the building, a two-story wall of glass tiles designed by noted sculptor Ned Smyth overlooks the prominent grand stairway marking the main entrance. Illuminated at night and prominently visible to the community through a glazed wall, it fronts Sutter Avenue, one of the main arteries in Brownsville. The playground and public areas of the school open onto this street, bringing in more life. Paul Broches, FAIA, of Mitchell/Giurgola Architects, remarks that “the school is the main civic building in the area and serves a critical community purpose in addition to its role as schoolhouse.”</p> <p>The client's design standards required security screening over the windows at the first-floor level. “Frequently other schools use expanded wire mesh, which has a somewhat prisonlike association. We have found a perforated metal panel that provides an equivalent measure of protection, if not more, and is much more attractive both looking from the inside and outside,” says Broches.</p> <p>Standard features include durable, high-quality, low-maintenance materials: terrazzo floors, steel doors, painted concrete block walls in classrooms, and attractively finished glazed concrete block in corridors and all public spaces to assure a utilitarian, tanklike resiliency that is still user-friendly. Designed for future wireless use, classrooms are flexible and can be converted from standard format to the popular small cluster.</p> <p> <bold> Commentary </bold> School principal Torres copes well with the chaos that hordes of young children inflict. “We like the age mix of students. While they don't interact that much, the intermediate students become mentors and do internships with the younger kids.” Through its clean design, large accommodating public spaces, and airy classrooms, the school has uplifted the local community. Torres continues, “Everyone wants to be here! Neighborhood residents have tried to establish residency in the school's catchment area in order to send their children here.”</p> <p>A delightful art exhibition recently put together by the second graders spanned the length of one of the long corridors of the classroom wing. The kids had created an interpretive show about such famous works as Van Gogh's Starry Night, Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, and Matisse's cutouts and still lifes. The tiled and durable hallways provide the perfect, immutable surface for such transient displays—gypsum board would immediately have been torn to shreds. Additional glazed hallway display areas were designed by the architect so that each classroom can present their trophy works in protected public areas.</p> <p>The tan-brick, white-trimmed mass of P.S. 156/I.S. 293 stands tall next to the adjacent row houses; in another neighborhood it might not be as exciting as it is here. It is clear from the cheerful faces of eager uniformed children lining the hallways that this school has gone well beyond the dictates of education, serving instead as an inviting beacon of hope for the whole community.</p> <p> <bold> Architect: </bold> Mitchell/Giurgola Architects—Paul Broches, partner in charge; John Doherty, Virginia Kindred, Faek Braick, Susan Stando, John Kurtz, team</p> <p> <bold> Architect of record: </bold> John Ciardullo Associates</p> <p> <bold> Client: </bold> New York City School Construction Authority</p> <p> <bold> Consultants: </bold> DVL Consulting Engineers (m/e/p); Ysrael A. Seinuk (structural); Langan Engineering (landscape, site, civil); Branston Partnership (lighting); Cini-Little (kitchen)</p> <p> <bold> General contractor: </bold> The DeMatteis Organization</p> <p> <bold> Size: </bold> 157,000 square feet</p> <p> <bold> Cost: </bold> $52 million</p> <hd id="AN0009346593-3"> Sources </hd> <p> <bold> Roofing: </bold> Johns Manville</p> <p> <bold> Hardware: </bold> Atlantic Hardware</p> <hd id="AN0009346593-4"> Ceilings: Armstrong </hd> <p> <bold> Custom woodwork and paneling: </bold> Eli NY Design</p> <p> <bold> Ceramic tile: </bold> Daltile</p> <p> <bold> Interior ambient lighting: </bold> Lumax; MagniFlood; Lithonia</p> <p> <bold> Exterior lighting: </bold> Holophane</p> <p> <bold> Flooring: </bold> Azrock; Polysafe (auditorium)</p> <p> <bold> Plastic laminate: </bold> Formica</p> <p> <bold> Paint: </bold> Sherwin Williams</p> <p> <bold> www </bold> For more information about the people and products involved in this project, go to Building Types Study at architecturalrecord.com.</p> <p>DIAGRAM:</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR):</p> <p>PHOTO S(COLOR): The tan-brick, white-trimmed mass of the school takes up almost a whole city block (left). At the main entrance, the facade is composed of a handsome aluminum panel system and yellow curtain wall (below and opposite).</p> <p>PHOTOS (COLOR): The design of the school supports the theme of learning through art. A wall composed of glass tiles (this page), glazed hallway display areas (opposite, left), and a 416-seat, stadium-style auditorium (opposite, right) all pay tribute to creativity.</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR):</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR):</p> <aug> <p>By Jane F. Kolleeny</p> </aug>
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