A Book on Making a Petite cole
(Hardback)
Publishing Details
A Book on Making a Petite cole
By (Author) Michael Meredith
By (author) Hilary Sample
Actar Publishers
Actar Publishers
10th July 2023
United States
Classifications
Children
Non Fiction
Physical Properties
Hardback
158
Width 241mm, Height 322mm
Description
A compendium of childrens design exercises by architects from around the world accompany illustrations and photographs documenting the construction of the Petite cole pavilion.
As part of the 2019 Biennale d'architecture et de paysage in Versailles, France, MOS constructed Petite cole, a small, open-air pavilion to house educational workshops for children. It is a place for looking and making, and for making and looking, constructed with 688 aluminum pieces modeled, flattened, cut, folded, prefabricated, shipped, and then assembled onsite. It is made to be taken down and reassembled elsewhere. It is designed to be easily understood, made of simple building elements: a long, low roof with columns and stacked beams holding it up.
Undertaken during various design workshops, single page design exercises written by architects were assembled into a large book and given to children. A Book on Making a Petite cole features an expanded collection of these exercises. Each exercise includes playful illustrations of its steps, starting a conversation about how designers look at, think about, teach, and imagine the foundations of design. Alongside these, the design process of the pavilion is included, as its own design exercise, from colorful illustrations of each step of the pavilions construction, to actual construction photographs and photographs of the completed pavilion being occupied.
A Book on Making a Petite cole considers basic questions of design pedagogy, abstraction, accessibility, experimentation, and equity, while considering and reconsidering architecture.
Author Bio
Michael Meredith, along with Hilary Sample, is a principal of MOS, an internationally recognized architecture practice based in New York, and Professor at Princeton University School of Architecture. Hilary Sample is the IDC Professor of Housing Design at Columbia University GSAPP, and co-founder of the New York-based architecture and design studio MOS.
