Not every architect gets to see an idea become reality. Even the best architects in Los Angeles know that the progress from inspiration to idea to rendering to built project is littered with pitfalls, any one of which can scuttle the dream. So when a rendering becomes reality, it sometimes feels like a miracle.
I once spoke with a screenwriter who told me that she wrote a scene in which the characters were drinking hot chocolate. When she arrived on the set, the actors had hot chocolate in their paper cups and it almost blew her mind. She had no idea that the world she created in her head could possibly come to life with such specificity.
We want to share a little of the magic with you on this project for Citizens of the World, Mar Vista. Our Principal, Whitney Sander, took an awkward triangular parcel and explored the ways in which it might be possible to create an additional building for the campus. With imagination, and his ability to think out of the box, he came up with a proposal you can visit on our website that included nine classrooms, a dedicated art room, an eating area with food prep facilities, a library, special education facilities and space for teachers to take a break.
Today the reality is here – and I think my favorite detail might just be that basketball hoop, in place exactly as rendered, and waiting for some kids to toss a ball its way. Our son, when asked what his favorite class was at his elementary school, never failed to say recess. The basketball hoop is everything.