We read this story about a new middle school and high school in Baltimore, the Baltimore Design School (BDS). The architecture firm, Ziger Snead Architects, transfigured an old and crusty factory building into a gorgeous and sparkling school that would inspire even the most bored student into a creative genius.
Taking a worn out, abandoned, cruddy, paint peeling, dirty, broken old building and making it into this beautiful place was not easy nor cheap. Fortunately, Adobe (the company that makes Photoshop and other software) made a huge donation to the school, allowing them to hire these architects who did a remarkable job. On the architect’s website there is a blog entry that explains that when they first arrived at the factory building, which was last inhabited in 1985, “…when the factory was shuttered in 1985 the staff quite literally walked out of the building. You will see coats, buttons, machines, lunch-boxes, chairs, and more. It is a time capsule on a grand scale.” That must have been a weird experience to enter that building and be able to have a vision of a great mess and envision what it “COULD” be. This is where having architecture training, experience and vision are so important. Apparently these architects are good at what they do.
So if you are a kid and you live in Baltimore, can you go to this fabulous building for school every day? Not everyone gets to go the Baltimore Design School (BDS) – you have to show a portfolio and get accepted. But if we lived in the fair city of Baltimore, we would be working hard on our skills to get in. You can study architecture, graphic design or fashion and it seems like a dream to go there. We cannot wait get to Baltimore to visit!
Both photos are copyright Karl Connolly.
Thank you very much to Karl Connolly for fantastic photos of this school.
Visit his site to see more great architectural photos.