#. Geometries of Expression:
Transforming the Creative Arts Charter School
UC Berkeley Design Studio 100C, Primary Structures
Academic, 2024
Individual Work
Instructor: Ryan Keerns
The Creative Arts Charter School (CACS), a K–8 school in San Francisco’s Western Addition, is animated by music, movement, and experimentation, yet constrained by narrow circulation and outdated facilities. This project reimagines the campus around a circular outdoor amphitheater that serves as both the physical and ideological center of the school. From this shared core, creative spaces for music, art, and performance radiate outward, while classrooms and gathering areas support collaboration across disciplines. Translating CACS’s open and experimental pedagogy into architectural form, the project creates an environment where learning, performance, and community life converge.
Program & Form
Part I explores how form can embody the school’s pedagogical values through geometry and spatial organization. A circular outdoor amphitheater anchors the campus, acting as a shared ground for performance, assembly, and informal gathering. Surrounding this center, a series of circular volumes house creative programs, while linear and secondary spaces extend outward to accommodate classrooms and support functions. This radial composition promotes visibility, movement, and interaction, replacing enclosed corridors with open circulation and shared spaces that encourage collaboration, expression, and collective learning.
Facade System
Top Image: Paper collage, primary geometric shapes arranged on a grid
Middle Image: Model photo, close up shot on the facade
Bottom Image: Section drawing
Part II develops a perforated facade system derived from a paper collage study composed of primary geometric shapes arranged on a grid. Translated into architecture, the facade balances playfulness and order. The perforations modulate light and shadow throughout the day, creating a dynamic interior atmosphere while providing privacy and sufficient daylight for classrooms. The facade becomes an active educational surface that visually expresses experimentation, creativity, and movement.
Image: Render drawing, amp theatre interior
Model