Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/619098
Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts L O S A N G E L E S I T ' S O N E O F T H E "30 Most Amazing High School Cam- puses in the World," according to Best Education Degrees. The school was designed and built for $232 million in 2009 by international architecture firm Coop Himmelb(l)au. The campus — devoted to visual and performing arts — has seven buildings on 10 acres. The prominent tower, planned as a community meeting room, remains unfinished since investors pulled their money aer the school refused to become a charter. A conical library, a theater with a Broadway-size stage, huge windows and other features prompted such phrases as "architecturally thrilling" from Los Angeles Times critic Christopher Haw- thorne, who observes that the school, like its students, is "something of a proud outcast: gangly, dreamy and beautiful at the same time." "[The school] has not only an enriching environment, but buildings that stimulate students' artistic side. It's a place where students want to learn and express art. I've heard students from poor neighborhoods such as South Central say that after coming here, they believe they can do anything." — GREG SCHILLER, science teacher and site rep, United Teachers Los Angeles 27 December 2015 / January 2016