After figuring out a base barrier/wall system for the site, I decided to work with trace and chipboard initially to explore bldg. placement. This proved to be a difficult task: given the fact you don't know exactly how your bldgs will be shaped, how should you site them? I found that having the Chapel at the front of the site (mostly down hill) allowed me to place the classroom in ways such that I could have 2 circulation spaces (I only recently realized that I should make these distinct by having one public, and one private.
When I moved to using the site model (3D), the whole picture changed. You can see how I tried using similar manipulations of translation, rotation to try and create effective relationships between buildings and circulation spaces. Most of the time, I'm trying to be aware of site lines. In the above pictures, I had been playing around with where exactly I wanted to site the chapel. I had decided on making the side wall of the classroom to "entrance wall" to the complex, and needed a way to cite the chapel to have an effective public circulation space to the south of the chapel and west of the classroom. After being unsatisfied with the previous transformations, I decided to try something different, and cut the end of the chapel off. This is where I planned on having the entrance/lobby, but now I wanted to see how I might be able to free up space close to the classroom. This became an effective solution, and will now be used in my project, because in essence this entrance is now functional as a kind of "welcome center" for the whole complex: people will enter, turn left at the wall and descend the stairs, and then the first bldg. they will come to will be the entrance center. They can either cross the plaza to the classroom, head into the lobby and then past it into the chapel (via an enclosed path), or head south to the side Chapel. By placing the bathrooms in here (behind a wall, which I've already designed and feel will be very effective), they become very accessible to all.
Above is the current design, with the problem solved chapel placement and lobby. I also am exploring the positioning of the office on top of the classroom. Note the two clear circulation areas: the public one in the middle of the site, and the private one on the northeast part (also a little private space for the side chapel). I feel like a lot of problem solving has gone into this final site placement: a lot of manipulations and thoughts that something would be final, only to tweak it more and get things right. One more thing to figure out: how to get the chapel at just the right angle (because it's currently just off of the 15 degree offset from North grid that so many other buildings are based off of).
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