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The morning

Sequence 1: observation
 
Students observe and describe the monument from an outdoor itinerary offering a view of each façade. The guide will ask questions to get them to identify the different parts of the Château and their different sizes, using the right vocabulary. They will try to describe the whole monument in simple geometric terms so as to gain an overall three-dimensional understanding.


Sequence 2: construction

Inside, the students will be split into three teams to set about constructing a wooden model of the Château from basic geometric shapes (parallelepipeds, cubes, cylinders, cones, pyramids and so on), by using what they learnt in the field. The guide will make sure the competing teams progress properly and sometimes stop to give a few tips or clues on completing the finished piece.

Sequence 3: sketching a plan

Students will each study and sketch a plan of an area of the keep on an appropriate document: this will require them to pay particular attention to the different volumes of rooms they see and to the different openings on to the outside.

Sequence 4: sketching the façade

Students will each sketch a façade of the keep to gain a better grasp of its composition in terms of symmetry, rhythm, division and opening.

Final sequence: architectural masterpiece

Back inside, the plan and façade sketches are stuck onto the model made that morning: the differences between the inside and outside of the monument will thus become more apparent, giving a complete and precise overview of François I’s masterpiece.