Students from WHSAD took part in a trip to Staten Island on Saturday, March 26th, to see the sites of different projects they have been working on since last school year. The sites students visited during the tour included the Tompkinsville Esplanade, Downtown Staten Island, Richmond Terrace Esplanade, and H.E.A.L.T.H. for Youths Skyline Community Garden. Many of the students had the opportunity to view their project locations for the first time in person and gained a better understanding of the respective site on which they’re designing a proposal. In addition to touring their sites, students heard from H.E.A.L.T.H. for Youths co-founder and long-time WHSAD partner, Heather Butts, about the sites. In this comment from Heather Butts, she … [Read more...]
The Column
Archived here is every article written for WHSAD's student run newspaper, The Column.
Freshmen Attend Sustainable Design Workshop at Center for Architecture
Last Tuesday, March 22nd, a group of 9th graders who finished the past marking period with an average of 90 or above received the opportunity to visit the Center for Architecture. Center for Architecture is a museum, whose goal is to further educate the public about NYC architecture through classes, workshops, after-school programs, summer camps, field trips, and much more. On this trip we learned about sustainable architecture and then created models that included environmentally friendly design aspects that the Center's teachers taught us. First they told us about all the negative ways buildings can affect our environment and why it’s so important that the world starts taking global warming and pollution into account when building new … [Read more...]
WHSAD’s March 9th Trip to Staten Island’s High Rock Park
Camila Paulino The day was Wednesday, Mar 9, 2022. It was a very cold, windy, rainy, and snowy afternoon. The people were tired and the time dragged on to feel like years. I woke up that morning ready to work and accomplish something that I had never done before. I was ready to have fun and learn something new. Little did I know it would be one of the hardest days of my life. Getting to school and the bus ride there were all easy, if anything it started off great. I felt great. Once the bus had stopped, and I saw that we were in the woods, I knew that I didn't fully know what I had signed up for. I felt the rain drop on my face one by one as the cool breeze filled my lungs. The mud gripped my boots as I took each step with my heart … [Read more...]
WHSAD Students Return to The Park Avenue Armory for Rashaad Newsome’s “Assembly” Exhibition
WHSAD Sophomore, Jared Birks, took all photos in this story. On Thursday March 3rd, 10th Grade WHSAD Students attended Park Avenue Armory to experience Rashaad Newsome's exhibit, Assembly. This exhibition featured a large room with projected imagery on the walls, a walk through of art media showcasing both Black Queer and West African culture, and the exhibit's focal point, an A.I. named Being. This part of the exhibit consisted of an interactive workshop on decolonization that students and staff were able to engage in through dances, meditations, conversation, and questions led by Being. Those attending the workshop were asked to think about their own relationship to the capitalist, white supremacist patriarchy and how they can free … [Read more...]
WHSAD Freshmen Share Their ACE Mentorship Experiences
George Pinto Every Thursday, from 4:00 - 6:00pm, two other WHSAD students and I attend ACE at STV, an architecture and engineering firm located near Union Sq. ACE stands for Architecture, Construction management, and Engineering, and is a four year program for high school students interested in one of the previously stated fields. Every year our team, team 11, chooses a project related to Columbia University’s campus, and design all the different aspects of it, as well as think about the structural components too. So if we were to actually build the structure, it would function the way it’s supposed to. This year we are designing a new field house for the athletic campus near The Bronx, which would include multiple locker rooms, … [Read more...]
Derek Ramos Matos’ Residential Home Design Project
In this series, students from Mr. Rodriguez' Grade 10 Architectural Computer Aided Drafting and Design (CADD) class share their insights regarding their past, present, and future work. In the interest of context, Mr. Rodriguez first provides some thoughts about purpose and process. Then, Derek offers his thoughts about his work. Throughout the story are examples of Derek's work. Mr. Abraham Rodriguez What went into coming up with this project idea and execution? This year, the 10th Grade class is focusing on developing basic research, design, and technical skills by working on a year-long design project of a residential home. The main objective of the class is to introduce students to computer-aided design software such as … [Read more...]
High Rock Session-March 2nd
Today was another wonderful day at High Rock, and I am overjoyed with the work we were able to complete today. Along with learning lots of things as we were working, we had to overcome some challenges at our site. Fortunately, the working environment improved magnitudes over the last time we were at High Rock. I remember how I came home covered in mud from head to toe as we got unlucky with the weather, and the frozen dirt in the morning turned into slippery mud in the afternoon, that was one heck of a day! Today was much better, but as most things in life, goals always sound simple on paper. While actually doing them might also be simple, putting in the work and effort is always the biggest challenge. Thankfully, my crew pulled through … [Read more...]
AP Spanish Mural Projects
In Ms. Soto’s AP Spanish class, students completed a project called El Mural. Ms. Soto's favorite part of teaching her AP Spanish class is the muralist movement. It is a movement that began in the early 1920s in Mexico when the government commissioned artists to make art that would educate the mostly illiterate population about the country’s history and present a powerful vision for its future. We began by selecting unique topics in our groups. Ms. Soto encouraged us to think out of the box and be creative. Some of the topics of the murals were about the Independence of Mexico, how Maradona impacted world soccer, mental health, immigration, etc. This helped us as students learn about the history behind the muralist movement and how … [Read more...]
Utopian Design: Architecture Year 3
By: Amelia Velez & Brianny Estevez During term 1 of Architecture & Design, Juniors researched utopian ideas and concepts in media and literature. Using what they had learned from the research, students created small and simple sketches, eventually leading to the culminating project of the term: create their own utopian models. Students created bubble diagrams, paper models, and any other form of planning to plan an idea for their project. They learned new ways to use everyday objects, such as scoring and manipulating cardboard or manipulating paper, to create new and organic forms. They also learned how to use tools such as CARL, a tabletop paper cutter, as well as proper and safe usage of X-acto knives. Teachers allowed students … [Read more...]
WHSAD’s First In-Person Trip to High Rock Park
We got the opportunity to visit the Greenbelt Conservatory after five online lessons. We had been attending meetings in the lab at WHSAD, but we were able to glimpse the park for the first time this semester. It was a vast forest with several spots to explore. I'm part of Group A consists of Magaly Aspiroz, Kole McLaurin, Zyon Thompson, Jeffrey Hernandez, Micheal Deans, and Micheal Nazario. Christopher Ricker, from the Greenbelt Conservancy, was our tour guide through the park. We noticed several trails and minor roads with boards of wood that act as small bridges, which were entertaining to cross. Hiking in this terrain seems pretty strenuous, and I had fun. I can see how visitors to the Greenbelt desire its natural characteristics … [Read more...]