Christian Kerez, Architect Lecture.

Event: Christian Kerez, Architect Lecture. Friday, November 9, 2012

Christian Kerez, an architect and professor from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich. In his architect lecture, he talks about the schoolhouse design in Leutschenbach in Switzerland. This school has a very unique design. It has many floors and the most interesting thing here to me, and to many others, because it is a highlight to the design, is the that the gym is in the sixth floor. The gym being on the highest level lets the students get a very good view of the city and I’m sure it is very breath taking to be there and look down. This part really reminds me of De Young Museum tower because it was so high and for a tower, there was a lot of space. I went up only once but it was sure a very spacious and the view of San Francisco was amazing and beautiful. I felt really relaxed and free when I was there in such a high elevation. I really like to feel so high up which is why I like heights and I really like Kerez’s idea of having the gym be so high and just having the whole building have so many windows to look out of. He commented on how he wanted students to feel like they have a lot of space which is why the halls and staircases are very wide, which I believe is a great design. I remember my elementary school had wide staircases and I felt safer than when I was in high school where the staircases were very narrow. Maybe because I was a lot smaller in size when I was in elementary school, but in high school, I felt so cramped and I hated walking up the narrow stairs because there were so many people and everyone always bumped into each other. Thus, having a wide staircase and halls is a really convenient and thoughtful design. Overall, I really like the idea to this design especially that the gym is high up so it gives students and people the opportunity to sightsee and feel like there is a lot of room to breathe.

Here are images showing the resemblance of De Young Tower compared to the schoolhouse

De Young Museum Tower interior. The big glass walls allow people to see  the outside which is similar to the school house gym and the building in general

Schoolhouse in Leutschenbach, Switzerland

De Young Museum Tower, San Francisco, CA