Historically, schools are used as places of emergency shelter and refuge but are rarely designed to accommodate an influx of visitors without the potential for disruption and political conflict. Our proposal is to revolutionize the concept of a public school and its service to the community and offer a place of education for the young, but also for the old, infirm, and displaced. The ethos of Phoenix Academy is to rebirth the school as a public space and a font of knowledge, to offer a welcome to all who require temporary or long-term support, and to be a naturally expansive and contractive place to match the ebb and flow of need. Such shelter is offered ethically and comfortably. Our plan identified crossovers between residential and educational programs and offers a new typology that temporally considers the mix between residential, common, and educational spaces throughout a 24-hour period.
