Boston Higashi School Gym
This gym was designed in conjunction with a classroom building as part of a larger campus plan for a school for autistic children.
The north side of the building is bermed into the hill so that the roof, hill-like in form, springs from the ground and opens up toward the south and valley below.
Treelike columns support two roof beams each.
Ths gym and classroom buildings are sited so as to reinforce the natural boundaries of a hilltop and thus define a protected outdoor play area. The teaching method integrates exercise with classroom instruction and so requires a weather-protected connection between the two buildings. As of today, the classroom building has been built, while the gym building is still awaiting funds.
(Project Designer, office of Kanda Associates, Cambridge,MA)