The design of the 49th Street Elementary School Major Modernization Project embraces the planning principle of an “Education Oasis” – connecting students to the natural environment and providing a space within the city for linking students to each other, the school to the community, and the site to the environment at large. This Education Oasis connects to the history and urban morphology of South Park and reinforces the school presence within the broader community by outwardly creating a holistic campus identity, while internally creating a supportive learning environment, which establishes positive social and collaborative experiences for students. The South Park region of Los Angeles, within which 49th Street Elementary School resides, is anchored by the historic South Park Recreational Center and Open Space, but otherwise is significantly lacking in other forms of parks and open space for the community. Central to our plan for the 49th Street Elementary School is to establish a “Learning Garden” that animates and structures the interior of the campus, with both the existing (historic and non-historic) buildings and new buildings creating a cohesive campus identity that is sensitive to the surrounding neighborhood fabric.
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