Essential Whimsy
School: UC Berkeley
Year: 2020
Course: Thesis studio
Team: Individual
Advisors: David Orkand, Sarah Hirschman
Whimsy is a playful, imaginative, and novel state of mind.
This thesis is rooted in an exploration of whimsy as a design methodology. It asks what might happen if the architectural design process mirrored the pedagogy of the space it makes. It hypothesizes that the creation of a building can mimic educational game-play by setting clear parameters around which ample space for serendipitous discovery is provided. The components of this school’s design are limited to a handful of primitive blocks and basic shapes which are performatively deployed on a 2.6-acre plot of land in San Francisco’s Mission Bay.
This 500-pupil kindergarten and primary school campus is assembled from a family of whimsical formal characters. Some of them are so large they can hold up the roof. Others are smaller and invite individual interaction. Each day’s schedule charts a new course through class instruction, play, communal meals, naps, and quiet time, encouraging students’ independent exploration. Whimsy in the design process is experienced as freedom to discover in use – as children interact with the different figures and with one another, they design their own educations.
