Design with a Conscience

Every once in awhile, a project comes along that encapsulates all that I love about architecture. Located just outside downtown Nashville on

8^th Avenue

, the W.O. Smith Music School is one of those projects.

THE SCHOOL

“W.O. Smith Music School makes affordable, quality music instruction available to children from low-income families. We transform lives through music.”

Without going into great detail about the center as you can read more about them on their website, the music school offers music lessons to underprivileged children for just $0.50 a lesson! Children swarm the facility after school to learn the drums, piano, violin and saxophone, to name a few. Volunteers from our music-rich community freely give their talents to these children so that they might grow in the art of music. Young lives are being transformed.

THE BUILDING

Bauer Askew Architecture (the architect) has successfully captured the vision through the design of the school.

·         Design: The contemporary design of the school is elegant and refreshing in a city where contemporary architecture is the exception to the norm. The massing and detailing, both inside and out, have been well thought out. Music motifs are sprinkled throughout the building, sometimes subtle and other times obvious. I am usually not too crazy about literal representations on buildings, and while some moments are too literal (i.e. piano keys for windows), there are other subtle moves in the lobby that are quite clever. I won’t ruin the surprise, but will let you discover them for yourself.

·         Repurposed Structure: The music school was not a new structure from the ground up; instead, the building used to be a tire warehouse. The car bays at the exterior are now the practice rooms, and the large interior space is now home to the large recital hall. Only the main lobby area was added to the existing building. This gave the designers the opportunity to create a large 2-story gathering space.

·         Non-profit: In a world where the bottom line of the corporate balance sheet drives design and the architects’ voice continues to diminish, it is refreshing to see a quality building from a non-profit group. I know nothing of the budget and schedule of this building, but I imagine (or hope) the users of the building relied on the architects and trusted them to guide them through the design process. This is what architects dream of: a client that looks to them as the “master builder.”

Even the wasps know to respect the symmetry

·         Community-minded: This building has been designed in Nashville…by a Nashville architect…for a Nashville audience. Like any architect, I love to follow the Starchitects of our generation, but it is great to see a quality building by our own. I hope this building attains the national recognition it deserves.

·         Socially Consciousness: Perhaps the greatest feat of this building is its contribution to society. One day the designers of this building will look back on their careers and consider their legacy. I am confident this project will rank high in their list of achievements. Buildings in and of themselves are worth being proud of, but design trends, wealthy clients and functions come and go. Changed lives create waves well beyond the life of even the longest-standing structures.

If you haven’t seen this building I encourage you to stop by and appreciate it for yourself.

-fAd_writer