Casting Vision

Apparently I intend to make up for my 4-month long silence all in one night.
I'm working on the vision for my thesis.  What's simultaneously frustrating and invigorating about this is that it seems like the definition of the problem is constantly changing.  In the end though, it boils down to the simple fact that the facilities that existing are not fulfilling the basic standards that we should require for the education of our nation's youth.  The goal of my thesis is to tackle the architectural insufficiency of University City High School, and provide a spatial framework for the future of the educational system - one that promotes stewardship.
At the fall group review, I presented three design opportunities.  Enhancing the imageability of the building through facade design, renovating / demolishing according to the program for a 21st Century school, and bringing clarity of form through reorganizing / reinventing the geometry of the original.
After a number of conversations about the move towards the neighborhood school model, and with all the recent talk about planning Drexel's campus, I revisited the words I'd put on the board for my intermediate review.  I'd gotten comments about the fact that I was being a bit timid with my treatment of the existing site and building.  Which is most certainly true.  I consistently err on the side of caution rather than grandiosity.  Perhaps it's a manifestation of my fear of being the stereotypical "egotistical architect."  But not all bold moves are signs of unwarranted egoism.

In the case of UCHS, it's true that some bold moves are in order.  To that end, I've decided to do some modification of the conceptual principles, and the following words are (I hope) going to define the direction for the remaining three months.  (Disclaimer: I probably will not go as far as some jurors would like to see.  I am still all too practical to do anything too crazy.  But it's my project.  If they want to design it, they can be as outrageous as they'd like.)
1. COMMUNITY - That old proverb that "it takes a village to raise a child" seems to be carrying an unspoken weight in some of the design concepts for projects in the world of educational architecture.  This concept will manifest itself in three ways.  In the site planning, the creation of a neighborhood campus.  In the building, an attitude about public and private spaces, with public functions that will serve both student body and community and also educational pods that will provide more dynamic learning settings.
2. CLARITY - The main ideas about architectural quality will fall under this category.  The first is layering, and the second is transparency vs. opacity.  Learning is a dimensional process, so the architecture ought to exhibit a sense of sequencing as well as intentional revelation.
3. STEWARDSHIP - One of the missional goals of the Philadelphia School District is encouraging students in the stewardship, that is personal care and responsibility, for their own education.  A number of programmatic and architectural decisions can help allow students and teachers alike to take a sort of personal ownership of building space and the surrounding environment.
There it is.  Hopefully I can handle turning the words into real architecture.
On another note, I need to learn how to do some 3d rendering business.  For realz.