01 DESCRIPTION

FIELD SCHOOL

The term field hospital was established to describe a temporary medical facility for soldiers during war. Sadly, the ongoing pandemic has brought this term into the common lexicon with feld hospitals popping up to treat Covid-19 patients around the globe. While of bleak origins, these structures are effective and serve as symbols of hope that healing is underway and brighter days lay ahead. This proposal adapts the typology of feld hospitals to create spaces for learning—Field Schools.

Field Schools can be deployed to a variety of sites. Serving the immediate need of quickly returning students to in-person learning, they may be set up in the school yard on day one. As students and faculty settle into their new learning environment, the feld school can be moved to a site that reinforces the curriculum encouraging students to engage. Imagine marine biology being taught in Dorchester’s Neponset River Estuary or the history of William Monroe Trotter being taught in his very own neighborhood atop of Jones Hill. This adaptable learning environment would beneft students and teachers alike.

The Field Schools are designed as a series of telescoping modules allowing them to adjust to the size of the site or number of students. In it’s closed position the Field School is easily transported to new learning environments. A core module provides off-the-grid restrooms, solar production, and storage space. The design also takes advantage of passive solar heating strategies and natural ventilation providing a healthy environment for students to return to in-person learning.