Just Around the Corner

The Urban Neighborhood Design Alliance is the pending not-for-profit arm of map-lab inc, a management, architecture, and planning laboratory located in Boston. UNDA encompasses educational programs originally supported through Historic Neighbor-hoods such as City/Build and Just Around the Corner. UNDA embodies the spirit and expands upon the vision of Historic Neigh-borhoods with new programs in sustainability, research, and urban design.

map-lab, inc 21 Drydock Avenue, 7th fl Boston, MA www.map-lab.com office: 617. 426 . 5401

Just Around the CornerThe Just Around The Corner program gives city youth a new understanding of their school and home neighborhood’s social and architectural heritage with field trips, interactive activities, and art projects. Working with local residents, architects, and other professionals, children develop an appreciation of the landmarks and treasures they never knew existed.

Boston Renaissance Charter Public SchoolSpring 2010 marks the rebirth of the Just Around the Corner program. A pilot session was held at the Boston Renaissance Charter Public School introducing Twenty-three 6th grade students from Ms. Sa-bins’ class to the social and architectural history of the Hyde Park neighborhood.

Students in the class live in the following Boston Neighborhoods

Hyde Park

Roxbury

Roslindale

South End South Boston

Jamaica Plain

Dorchester

Just Around the Corner Curriculum Overview

Urban Context: Macro scale

Neighborhood Context: Micro scale

Neighborhood Visit: affiliation

Design Project: inginuity

Just Around the Corner Curriculum Overview

Hyde Park

Roxbury

Roslindale

Charlestown

South Boston

Jamaica Plain

Dorchester

South End

EastBoston

Allston/Brighton Beacon

HillBack Bay

Fenway

MattapanWest Roxbury

Urban Context: Students come from all over the city and each identify on a personal level with their neighborhood and the place they reside. Students give depth to the ur-ban fabric by investigating what makes their own neighborhood unique and a great place to live. Through drawings students chart the physical similarities and differences between the various neighborhoods represented by members of the class.

EastBoston

Urban Context

The Urban Context portion of the program focuses on working from the macro scale of Boston to the micro scale of each student’s neighborhood. Each student is given a pre-test to determine their under-standing of their home neighborhood, as well as the neighborhood that is the focal point of the course. The students are asked to identify the positive traits of where they live to share with the class. Starting with a mapping activity, students find their neighborhood on a large map of the City of Boston, which allows them to see the size and proportion of Boston and its neighborhoods. This is the first of many maps that are used in the course. Students are asked to visually and orally define the characteristics of their neighborhood and home, acclimating them to their own personal architectural vocabulary. Stu-dents often work together to share their work and draw comparisons or differences in the places that they live. The Urban Context works to familiarize the students with the built environment in relationship to what they already know, so in future classes they can apply this knowledge to the neighborhood they are studying.

Student work samples

Hyde Park

Roxbury

Roslindale

Charlestown

South Boston

Jamaica Plain

Dorchester

South End

EastBoston

Allston/Brighton Beacon

HillBack Bay

Fenway

MattapanWest Roxbury

Activities

Pre- test

Locating Neighborhoods on a Map

Drawing and Understanding neighborhoods

Positive Neighborhood Initiatives

Compare/Contrast neighborhood features

Goals:

Understanding of the size and proportion of Boston and its neighborhoods

Familiarity with maps

Defi ning characteristics of neighborhoods

Creating a personal architectural vocabulary

Introduction of architectural drawing

Comparing and contrasting

EastBoston

Urban Context

Hyde ParkHyde ParkHyde ParkHyde ParkHyde ParkHyde Park

Neighborhood Context: Students are intro-duced to the social and architectural history of a Bos-ton neighborhood. Students investigate the history of the neighborhood through hands on group activities and are encouraged to draw conclusions between the historical context of the time and the neighborhoods growth. Students expand their architectural vocabulary and learn to identify building styles and types.

Neighborhood Context

The students learn about Hyde Park’s extensive history through reading and hands on activities. In groups students create a timeline based on handouts detailing the area’s growth. Students use their reasoning skills to determine key information and its context within the growth and industrialization of Hyde Park. Throughout this process, historic and current day maps of Hyde Park are reviewed so students can see the impact of the historical data they are learning. The architectural history and vo-cabulary is introduced through studying the architectural styles of Historic Hyde Park. The students created their own homes for Historic Hyde Park based on their timelines. Using the historical context they determined the year their theoretical house was built, and the occupation of its residents. Once they had the background, they were able to choose the style of the house they were building. They made sure it fit within the time period their home was built. It was wonderful to hear them discuss the different architectural styles, saying, “I have a roof of a queenanne and windows from an Italianate.” These activities are aimed at preparing them for the neighborhood visit.

Student work sample

Activities Include:

Study Architectural Styles

Learn Architectural vocabulary

Understand Architectural drawings

Research a Boston neighborhood

Create visual time lines synthesizing history and architecture

Study Architectural Styles

Learn Architectural vocabulary

Understand Architectural drawings

Research a Boston neighborhood

Create visual time lines synthesizing history and architecture

Hyde Park

Goals:

Understand a Neighborhood’s development

Gain knowledge of key landmarks and features

Increase understanding of maps

Develop an architectural vocabulary

Increase familiarity with architectural drawings

Use critical and creative thinking skills

Neighborhood Context

Hyde Park

Neighborhood Visit: During a Field trip to the neighborhood students utilize their Architectural vocabulary and view historical sites. Students draw connections between what they have been studying in class, and what they see while walking through the neighborhood. Students also visit a positive example of neigh-borhood development where volunteers give students an overview of their construction proj-ect and host the students on the job site.

Neighborhood Visit

TheTheTheTheThe

June 3, 2010

Hyde Park BulletinVolume 9, Issue 22

FFFFFogg Pogg Pogg Pogg Pogg Post honorost honorost honorost honorost honors vs vs vs vs veeeeettttterans on Memorial Daerans on Memorial Daerans on Memorial Daerans on Memorial Daerans on Memorial Dayyyyy

Members of the Cecil Fogg-Thomas Roberts American Legion Post in Hyde Park raise the flag in obser-vance of Memorial Day on May 31.

PHOTO BY IGNACIO LAGUARDA

Trees and ice creamdiscussed atFairmount Hill meeting

Ignacio LaguarIgnacio LaguarIgnacio LaguarIgnacio LaguarIgnacio LaguardadadadadaStaff Reporter

The Horace CampbellWoodworth Square at the in-tersection of Beacon Streetand Metropolitan Avenue inFairmount Hill could have acompletely new look by thisfall, if a proposed plan fromthe Boston Parks and Recre-ation Department is approved.

Bernie Lynch, assistantcommissioner of the parks andrecreation department, pre-

Tom Papadopoulos, owner of Cappy’s Pizza, presented his plans for anew ice cream and coffee shop on Truman Parkway at the latestFairmount Hill Neighborhood Association meeting.

PHOTO BY IGNACIO LAGUARDA

sented those preliminaryplans to the Fairmount HillNeighborhood Association onMay 26.

Part of the plan includesremoving two of the threetrees that stand on the triangleisland, which has dimensionsof 66', 62' and 45'. The 18" di-ameter pin oak tree in themiddle of the site would re-main, while the 14" pin oakand the 9" Norway Maplewould be removed.

One resident at the meet-ing was concerned about theremoval of the Norway treebecause of its historical sig-nificance, claiming that it wasplanted in 1966.

Lynch and others in atten-dance said the tree was com-pletely dead, but that if resi-dents were against the re-moval of the tree, the citywould perhaps reconsidertheir plan. The other treeslated for removal has become

a problem because of itsheight. The branches touch theelectrical cables overhead.

“We don’t take takingdown trees lightly,” saidLynch, after mentioning thatthe trees currently on the siteare far from ideal. “They’renot great trees, to say theleast.”

Many in attendance askedabout the significance of thename of the square, but noone had any informationregarding HoraceCampbell

Woodworth. Lynch did say,however, that the sign for thesquare has a star on it, whichmore than likely means thatWoodworth was a World WarI veteran.

Besides the removal of thetrees, the project also involvesinstalling a flower bed withdaylilies and a host of otherplants. The cost of the entireproject would be just over$5,000, said Lynch.

Also at the meeting wasTom Papadopoulos, the ownerof Cappy’s Pizza on TrumanParkway and Fairmount Av-enue.

Papadopoulos does notown the building he is usingfor his pizzeria now, but he isthe owner of some of the ad-jacent commercial spaces thatare attached to the building.

He said he has received of-fers from businesses in the

FFFFFairmountairmountairmountairmountairmountContinued on page 8

Renaissance school lets studentsthrough the door for first time

Ignacio LaguarIgnacio LaguarIgnacio LaguarIgnacio LaguarIgnacio LaguardadadadadaStaff Reporter

Current students from the Boston Renaissance Public Charter School took a tour of the renovated buildingon Hyde Park Avenue, which will open this fall and become the new home of the school.

PHOTO BY IGNACIO LAGUARDA

The new and yet to beopened Hyde Park location ofthe Boston Renaissance Char-ter Public School was unveiledto a group of the school’s sixthgrade students during a tour on

May 26.The building passed its first

test with flying colors, accord-ing to the students.

“Even if it’s not finished, it’sawesome,” said sixth graderSandy Mejia, who gleefullychowed down on some pizzaprovided at the end of the tour.

The sixth graders were allimpressed by the $40 millionstructure, which opens this fallto about 1,000 students fromaround the city, in grades K-6.Yet, more than one was dis-heartened by the fact that they

RRRRRenaissanceenaissanceenaissanceenaissanceenaissanceContinued on page 7

Ignacio LaguarIgnacio LaguarIgnacio LaguarIgnacio LaguarIgnacio LaguardadadadadaStaff Reporter

The Cecil Fogg-ThomasRoberts American Legion Postwas decorated with Americanflags all along the outer fenceand seemingly everywhere youlooked on Memorial Day.

John M. Moran, the com-mander of the post, led a cer-emony that included a flag ser-vice and a number of awards to

residents and veterans, before thecongregation traveled to the MostPrecious Blood Church for a Massservice.

Jake Comer, former com-mander of the American Legion,was emphatic in his speech inasking everyone in the audienceto help him “take back our coun-try” and fight for the rights of vet-erans.

“When we hear, we forget,when we see, we remember, but

it is when we, do that we under-stand,” said Comer.

Mayor Thomas M. Meninoattended the service in whichstate Rep. Angelo Scaccia alsogave a speech.

Later in the day in WestRoxbury, a larger ceremony fea-tured many speakers and mul-tiple messages of gratitude andremembrance for American sol-

Memorial DaMemorial DaMemorial DaMemorial DaMemorial DayyyyyContinued on page 6

Students visit the neighborhood for a first hand experience of what they have been studying in class. The session starts with an architectural scavenger hunt throughout the neighborhood. Students are challenged to identify historical sites and architectural styles that they have been investigating. The scavenger hunt integrates residential, commercial and historical sites so they can see the various changes that have occurred in the neighborhood. Students continue to sketch what they see, identify-ing characteristics and drawing connections between the neighborhoods where they live.

The second portion of the visit is a tour of positive neighborhood development. Students toured the new Boston Renaissance Charter Public School with the architectural and construction teams. Stu-dents are exposed to neighborhood development as well as careers within the building trade. The architectural and construction teams discuss building techniques and design decisions with the stu-dents.

TheTheTheTheThe

June 3, 2010

Hyde Park BulletinVolume 9, Issue 22

FFFFFogg Pogg Pogg Pogg Pogg Post honorost honorost honorost honorost honors vs vs vs vs veeeeettttterans on Memorial Daerans on Memorial Daerans on Memorial Daerans on Memorial Daerans on Memorial Dayyyyy

Members of the Cecil Fogg-Thomas Roberts American Legion Post in Hyde Park raise the flag in obser-vance of Memorial Day on May 31.

PHOTO BY IGNACIO LAGUARDA

Trees and ice creamdiscussed atFairmount Hill meeting

Ignacio LaguarIgnacio LaguarIgnacio LaguarIgnacio LaguarIgnacio LaguardadadadadaStaff Reporter

The Horace CampbellWoodworth Square at the in-tersection of Beacon Streetand Metropolitan Avenue inFairmount Hill could have acompletely new look by thisfall, if a proposed plan fromthe Boston Parks and Recre-ation Department is approved.

Bernie Lynch, assistantcommissioner of the parks andrecreation department, pre-

Tom Papadopoulos, owner of Cappy’s Pizza, presented his plans for anew ice cream and coffee shop on Truman Parkway at the latestFairmount Hill Neighborhood Association meeting.

PHOTO BY IGNACIO LAGUARDA

sented those preliminaryplans to the Fairmount HillNeighborhood Association onMay 26.

Part of the plan includesremoving two of the threetrees that stand on the triangleisland, which has dimensionsof 66', 62' and 45'. The 18" di-ameter pin oak tree in themiddle of the site would re-main, while the 14" pin oakand the 9" Norway Maplewould be removed.

One resident at the meet-ing was concerned about theremoval of the Norway treebecause of its historical sig-nificance, claiming that it wasplanted in 1966.

Lynch and others in atten-dance said the tree was com-pletely dead, but that if resi-dents were against the re-moval of the tree, the citywould perhaps reconsidertheir plan. The other treeslated for removal has become

a problem because of itsheight. The branches touch theelectrical cables overhead.

“We don’t take takingdown trees lightly,” saidLynch, after mentioning thatthe trees currently on the siteare far from ideal. “They’renot great trees, to say theleast.”

Many in attendance askedabout the significance of thename of the square, but noone had any informationregarding HoraceCampbell

Woodworth. Lynch did say,however, that the sign for thesquare has a star on it, whichmore than likely means thatWoodworth was a World WarI veteran.

Besides the removal of thetrees, the project also involvesinstalling a flower bed withdaylilies and a host of otherplants. The cost of the entireproject would be just over$5,000, said Lynch.

Also at the meeting wasTom Papadopoulos, the ownerof Cappy’s Pizza on TrumanParkway and Fairmount Av-enue.

Papadopoulos does notown the building he is usingfor his pizzeria now, but he isthe owner of some of the ad-jacent commercial spaces thatare attached to the building.

He said he has received of-fers from businesses in the

FFFFFairmountairmountairmountairmountairmountContinued on page 8

Renaissance school lets studentsthrough the door for first time

Ignacio LaguarIgnacio LaguarIgnacio LaguarIgnacio LaguarIgnacio LaguardadadadadaStaff Reporter

Current students from the Boston Renaissance Public Charter School took a tour of the renovated buildingon Hyde Park Avenue, which will open this fall and become the new home of the school.

PHOTO BY IGNACIO LAGUARDA

The new and yet to beopened Hyde Park location ofthe Boston Renaissance Char-ter Public School was unveiledto a group of the school’s sixthgrade students during a tour on

May 26.The building passed its first

test with flying colors, accord-ing to the students.

“Even if it’s not finished, it’sawesome,” said sixth graderSandy Mejia, who gleefullychowed down on some pizzaprovided at the end of the tour.

The sixth graders were allimpressed by the $40 millionstructure, which opens this fallto about 1,000 students fromaround the city, in grades K-6.Yet, more than one was dis-heartened by the fact that they

RRRRRenaissanceenaissanceenaissanceenaissanceenaissanceContinued on page 7

Ignacio LaguarIgnacio LaguarIgnacio LaguarIgnacio LaguarIgnacio LaguardadadadadaStaff Reporter

The Cecil Fogg-ThomasRoberts American Legion Postwas decorated with Americanflags all along the outer fenceand seemingly everywhere youlooked on Memorial Day.

John M. Moran, the com-mander of the post, led a cer-emony that included a flag ser-vice and a number of awards to

residents and veterans, before thecongregation traveled to the MostPrecious Blood Church for a Massservice.

Jake Comer, former com-mander of the American Legion,was emphatic in his speech inasking everyone in the audienceto help him “take back our coun-try” and fight for the rights of vet-erans.

“When we hear, we forget,when we see, we remember, but

it is when we, do that we under-stand,” said Comer.

Mayor Thomas M. Meninoattended the service in whichstate Rep. Angelo Scaccia alsogave a speech.

Later in the day in WestRoxbury, a larger ceremony fea-tured many speakers and mul-tiple messages of gratitude andremembrance for American sol-

Memorial DaMemorial DaMemorial DaMemorial DaMemorial DayyyyyContinued on page 6

Page 7 Page 7 Page 7 Page 7 Page 7The BulletinJune 3, 20June 3, 20June 3, 20June 3, 20June 3, 201111100000

will not be able to attend classesin the building.

“I wish we could be here,”said Willina Garcia, who dur-ing the tour asked one of theprincipal architects if the schoolcould be opened up to include6-8 grade students.

“You’ll have to lobby theschool board for that,” saidChin Lin, from HMFH Archi-tects, who designed the renova-tion of the 7,000-square footmasonry and timber mill, whichwas built in 1889, and a 20,000-square foot concrete block andmetal siding warehouse built in1974.

The project, which also in-cludes a 15,000 square foot ad-dition for a total of 110,000square feet, represents the larg-est charter school project to beconstructed in Massachusetts,according to figures fromHMFH.

The new complex at 1415Hyde Park Ave. will replace the16-floor building on 250 StuartSt. as the home of the school.

During the tour of the com-plex, Lin described the designto the students and pointed outmany of the features of thebuilding and some of the chal-lenges of the construction.

Lin mentioned that theoriginal floors in areas of thebuilding were wildly uneven,sometimes at differences of sixto 10 inches, requiring a major

overhaul and new floors.Other aspects, such as brick

walls and exposed wood col-umns, were left untouched.

None of the classrooms inthe building are the same, saidLin, who informed the studentsthat the rooms will all have day-light and motion sensor tech-nology to shut off when no oneis using them or when there isenough natural light inside theroom.

Skylights and windows area big part of the design and theyallow for copious amounts ofsunlight to come through thebuilding. The library, for in-stance, has so many windowsthat a light is not necessary dur-ing the day.

Dasia Miles, one of the sixthgraders, said she liked the en-vironmentally conscious ele-ments of the school.

“I like how they use energyand try to stay green,” she said.

Another design element in-volves color-coded entrances tothe kindergarten classes on thefirst floor, which are easily ac-cessible from the parking lot.

“The reason you want themin different colors is so that thekindergarten class can identifythem,” said Lin.

Student Samuel Ashby, whotoured the building along withhis twin brother JeremiahAshby, said the building wasmore colorful than the current

Renaissance continued from page 1

Renaissance School building.Nuha Futa, another student,

was impressed by the state-of-the-art features of the complex.

“It’s really high-tech andbetter than my school,” saidFuta, who added that she wasjealous of her brother, who isin the third grade and will beable to go to the new buildingthis fall.

The tour was organized bythe non-profit Urban Neigh-borhood Design Alliance aspart of their Just Around TheCorner program aimed atteaching children about the ar-chitecture and social history ofneighborhoods. The studentsalso toured downtown HydePark before visiting the schooland completed assignments byidentifying different architec-tural designs in the neighbor-hood.

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Activities Include:

Architectural Scavenger hunt

Walking tour

Site visit

Meeting neighborhood members

Meeting design professionals

Refl ection paper

Architectural Scavenger hunt

Walking tour

Site visit

Meeting neighborhood members

Meeting design professionals

Hyde Park

Goals:

Ability to identify architectural details

Expanded use of architectural vocabulary

Familiarity with neighborhood maps

Identifi cation of historic sites and their context

Introduction to construction and design professionals

Neighborhood Visit

Design Project: Students work in groups on a fi nal design project. Projects are a refl ection of the neigh-borhood studied and the construction project that is introduced to the class on the fi eld trip. Students pres-ent their fi nal projects to the class and the volunteer professionals to help instill confi dence in their abilities and a sense of pride in their completed work.

Design Project

The students were challenged to design the green space of the new Boston Renaissance Charter Public School. The initial phase of the project was for the students to brainstorm ideas individually, considering how the different ages of students would be able to utilize the outdoor space. Once the students successfully considered their own ideas, as a class, they generated a list of possible uses for the new green space. The students grouped the ideas into themes, which became the basis for their final projects. The students were broken down into groups based on their interests’ and asked to prepare a project proposal and schematic sketches. The students worked with recycled materials to make 3-D models to represent their proposed ideas. This challenged them to be creative with material selections and how to make their ideas a reality. The groups generated posters to accompany their models and represented some of the drawing techniques they learned throughout the course. Their posters included a site plan showing where they sited their proposed idea, perspective sketches and elevations. The project concluded with the groups presenting their ideas to the class and to visitors.

Activities Include:

Green space proposal

Architectural drawings

3-D models

Presentation posters

Final presentations

Goals:

Identifying BRCPS needs

Succinct proposals

Use of architectural drawing skills

Translation of ideas into 2-D sketches

Translation of 2-D sketches to 3-D models

Articulate presentations

Design Project

The Urban Neighborhood Design Alliance is the pending not-for-profit arm of map-lab inc, a management, architecture, and planning laboratory located in Boston. UNDA encompasses educational programs originally supported through Historic Neighbor-hoods such as City/Build and Just Around the Corner. UNDA embodies the spirit and expands upon the vision of Historic Neigh-borhoods with new programs in sustainability, research, and urban design.

map-lab, inc 21 Drydock Avenue, 7th fl Boston, MA www.map-lab.com office: 617. 426 . 5401