“How does urban planning and architecture influence the shape of a city?” That was the big question students explored in the Seattle Architecture Foundation’s most recent After School Programs at Mercer International Middle School and Hamilton Middle School.
The Miller Hayashi team volunteered at both schools, helping students with model building and investigating creative solutions to Seattle’s increased density. Students experimented with repurposing Keystone Arena, housing beneath I-5, schools in dense urban areas, and even mobile-flying homes.
Students also learned about design at the macro level of city planning. Through a handmade board game, they considered how the natural environment shapes where people live, how the placement of roads affects communities, and the relationships between industrial, agricultural, urban and residential areas.