The foundations of architecture
By Andrew Seguin
 As part of their architectural studies this year, Class 6 visited the architecture firm of Butler Rogers Baskett last week. The firm designed Chapin’s new addition, so the girls had the opportunity to see how the floors that materialize above them as they go about their school day were conceived.
“We did about 100 drawings,” said Heidi DeBethman, one of Butler Rogers Baskett’s designers. She led the students through a presentation that demonstrated the numerous methods — blueprints, computer drawings and three-dimensional models — that architects used to arrive at a final plan for 100 East End Avenue.
The students were already familiar with the blueprints, as Ms. DeBethman had sent copies of them to art teacher Duane Neil for use in his class. Mr. Neil had asked his Class 6 students to create a rectilinear sculptural construction out of wood that incorporated some of the blueprints as design elements. It was a way of unifying the girls’ architectural studies and preparing them for their visit to Butler Rogers Baskett.
During her presentation, Ms. DeBethman addressed the three aspects of architecture that the girls examined as they learned about Gothic, Romanesque and Modern buildings: What holds the building up? How does light enter? What’s the relationship between curved and straight lines?
Well-versed in all three architectural styles, a student was quick to answer “Flying buttresses,” when asked how a Gothic cathedral is held up. And in Modern? “Steel beams,” another said. “So what do the steel beams allow to happen to a building’s walls?” Ms. DeBethman asked. She explained that the beams support the entire building, meaning the walls don’t have to — they can be built of glass, like Chapin’s new façade.
Ms. DeBethman answered the girls’ questions about the new building, everything from “Will the glass have UV coating?” to “What scale was used in the drawings?” to the ultra-relevant, “Will we have bigger lockers next year?”
Before leaving, the girls toured the office, where they saw about 60 architects and designers at work in an open, well-lit space. On the designers’ screens, blueprints much like the ones the girls had worked with were visible. The students could see that a life in architecture always begins with a plan.
Click here to see a photo gallery of Class 6's rectilinear sculptures
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