Corona School

After the 1933 earthquake happened in Los Angeles, many of their schools were destroyed. This natural misfortune allowed architects to think of new educational approaches based on modern movement principles such as health standards or spatial flexibility. Richard Neutra built one of those experimental schools that would become the base of many of his later projects in Puerto Rico. Tras el terremoto de 1933 que azotó Los Angeles, muchas de sus escuelas fueron destruidas lo que provocó que se pudieran repensar nuevas formas educativas basadas en principios del movimiento moderno como la higiene o la flexibilidad espacial. Richard Neutra construyó una de estas escuelas experimentales que se convertiría en la base de muchos de sus posteriores proyectos en la isla de Puerto Rico. The project has an asymmetric ‘L' shape floor plan: the longest side accommodates the classrooms while the kindergarten is located in the short wing. Two significant covered exterior passages create circulation to the classrooms and restrooms. Therefore, these classrooms have an east-west orientation. The access to each class is through the east side, while the other facade gives access to an individual garden with generous dimensions. In another location, this garden would have been an open area for students' recess time. Still, the weather of California allowed Neutra to propose a classroom that could be extended to the garden and duplicate its space: El proyecto tiene una planta en forma de ‘L' asimétrica, en la parte más larga se sitúan las clases para los alumnos y en el corto, el parvulario. Dos grandes pasajes exteriores y cubiertos distribuyen la circulación a las clases y a los aseos. De este modo las aulas se orientan en sentido este-oeste. Se accede a cada clase por el lado oriental mientras que su otra fachada da a un jardín individual de generosas dimensiones.