Manda Budisa
I have always been intrigued by Interior Design. At a young age, I was fortunate to be exposed to the industry, which sparked my interest in pursuing Interior Design as a career. My time at Humber has taught me a lot, and I look forward to furthering my skills.
Avenue Road Arts School
The Avenue Arts School has been a Toronto landmark for 27 years. The new facility is designed with teens and young adults in mind, presenting a flexible space for their creativity to thrive. The school will host courses within the fine arts, photography, digital arts, and design. The main floor will offer gallery space that can be rented out by local artists, making art accessible to the community.
Rationale and Design Narrative
The new proposed branch will target a demographic of teens and young adults. The secondary school system is experiencing a decrease in creative programs being offered for students. The arts provide many skills which help young people as they continue through life. The facility would help fill these gaps by providing secondary level credited courses that students could use towards their diploma. In addition, the facility would run as an after-school arts school for all age groups. Lastly, it will encourage community by offering gallery space to local artists. The design concept stemmed from light and its ability to affect the creative process. This led to being inspired by photography and the anatomy of a camera, which uses light and reflection to capture images. This helped create the angles that are used in each of the floors of the building.
Design Connection to Research
The primary purpose of the facility is to provide students with a variety of creative courses they would not otherwise be exposed to and help further drive passion within the arts. There has been research that shows that lighting conditions significantly impact the creative process. The school has been organized in a way that offers varying levels of light from completely controlled artificial light as represented in Lower Level to an abundance of natural light, as shown on the Upper Level. By designing the space to encourage a better creative process psychologically, it will ultimately leave a positive association with art.
Character of Space
The existing building is classified as a heritage building which presents features such as exposed brick and exposed black steel trusses. The new design showcases these elements and maintains its historic beauty. The neutral colour pallet on the Main Level presents a blank canvas for an artist to showcase their artwork, much like a gallery. The Lower Level and Upper Level also offers a blank canvas with small punches of colour. On the Upper Level, there are bare walls in place with the intention of students adding their own colour through wall graffiti. This provides a communal connection between the students attending the school and allows them a space to be creative without limits. A large triangular atrium cuts through the center of the building, connecting the Upper Level with the Lower Levels, and carrying natural light throughout the building.
