THEAnd Italian schools are quite old. With an average age that exceeds 50 and often precarious structural conditionsschool buildings represent a real infrastructure emergency. The last national report also highlights this School ecosystem of Legambientewho denounces the urgency of safety interventions but also a serious lack of attention to sustainability.
PNRR funds, beyond 18 billion euros intended for school innovationthey are not enough to fill the gap. A clear and far -sighted vision is neededa compass that orient interventions capable of rethinking the school, not only from a structural but also educational point of view. This is why it is interesting The design revolution which is carrying out, in our country, A group of architects and pedagogists: with a multidisciplinary approach, He is redesigning the face of Italian school construction.
Spaces with Integrated Garden in South Tyrol
Sandy Attia and Matteo Scagnol, of the Modus studio, are pioneers of a new school ideafor example: inclusive, sustainable, connected to the territory and centered on Student needs. Veterans from a training experience at Harvard University, they structured theirs Professional commitment to Bressanone. Twenty years ago they created an all -wooded nursery schoolmaterial that is part of the cultural DNA of South Tyrol.
The Alexander Langer primary school in Firmian, Bolzano, signed by Sandy Attia and Matteo Scagnol (Ph: Oskar da Riz).
«It was our first project and has marked our path. It is a small building in which we have integrated the abandoned garden. We made a terrace where children can move independently, overcoming the fragmentation and the control of spaces and times which often characterizes the school organization »explains Attia that in that intervention traces The origin of the model of the-patches. Those that, with green roofs, hanging gardens, courtyards and eco-compatible materials of local or recycled origincontribute to environmental sustainability and offer Recovery and decompression spaces for students.
One of the schools of the Modus studio, all projects are developed with pedagogists with materials such as wood and cork (pH: Marco Cappelletti).
The regulations on the spaces to be dedicated to students damage little importance to external areas of the schools that, as Attia explains, are precious. “For example – he says – A porch is a valid architectural solution To create shadow in the hottest periods, increasing due to the climatic crisis, e offer free spaces that stimulate concentration ».
There are many Green solutions which applies in its school construction projects, mainly between South Tyrol and Friuli-Venezia Giulia: come on Materials such as wood and cork that absorb and do not reflect noise and heat a Large windows with sun protection which guarantee natural lighting e contribute to energy savinguntil Low Tech systems which exploit the orientation of buildings and allow one autonomous maintenance. The projects of the Modus studio are developed in close collaboration with pedagogists.
Classrooms without walls in Veneto
The watchword is centrality: all schools revolve around a central space which has a hybrid character and can be used flexible for Laboratories or Community activitiesbeyond school hours. This, however, the idea behind the works carried out by Maria Alessandra Segantini, founder of the C+S Architects studio with her husband Carlo Cappai, specialized in school construction.
One of the schools signed by C+S Architects, the study of Maria Alessandra Segantini and her husband Carlo Cappai allow the little ones to observe the external landscape, the variations of light and climate.
“There widespread city which extends from Venice to Milan is a continuous suburbs, without centers and rich in a multicultural population. The school must therefore become one open space that welcomes and promotes social interaction “ Segantini underlines explaining in this way why the school buildings, built in the Lombard-Veneta plain, take the appearance of squares of small urban towns which contribute to return identity to the territory.
Maria Alessandra Segantini, Founder of C+B Architects. All the schools you designed revolve around a central hybrid space, which can also be used for extra school activities such as workshops or community activities.
Equally innovative are the classrooms without walls: opaque spaces, so that pupils can pay attention to the lesson when they are sitting at the counter. «For the little ones, The interviewing is also between the outside and the interiorso the transformation of the surrounding landscape and the variability of light or climate become observation elements “ specifies.
Circular plexuses in Lombardy
All buildings are a energy consumption almost zero: «The windows exploit the oblique winter sun and are protected by external curtains in summer. Photovoltaic and rainwater recovery they complete the saving framework. In some schools, i natural ventilation fireplaces they are visible and the building becomes a Sustainability manifesto “ Adds Segantini.
The courts of the schools signed by C+S have a tree to encourage the well -being of the territory and students. A kindergarten, inaugurated at the beginning of the year, even stands in a park, in Alzano Lombardo, in the province of Bergamo. It presents itself as a transparent pavilioncovered in mosaic of white glass and walls in river pebbles. «We have integrated architecture and landscape: the school begins to appear among the faults of the ramp, embellished with the Reproduction of the animals of the well -known puzzle by Enzo Mari »comments.
One of the spaces of the School of Alzano Lombardo, in the province of Bergamo signed by C+S Architects.
Now they are planning the circular schools in which the corridors disappear and are planned fluid spaces. «They are also circular in terms of sustainability: built dry, with a sort of ecological lego, can be disassembled and recycled at the end of the life of the building. They are also a solution for emergencies »adds Segantini. These are models that They also inspire younger architectslike Simona Della Rocca, driving the BDR Bureau studio with Alberto Bottero. To consecrate their commitment to school construction in 2017, the intervention of Recovery of the Turin middle school “Enrico Fermi”winner of the “Turin makes school” competition.
The renovation of the Turin middle school “Enrico Fermi” made the “Turin Fa school” award win to the architect Simona della Rocca (Ph: Alessandra Bello).
«We have expanded the building making it more functional with a civic center at the entrance. Adding a metal structure, we have multiplied the possibilities of use of classrooms and common areas: become a meeting point with Green didactic terraces who emphasize the visual permeability and therefore the relationship with the outside »specifies of the Rocca, illustrating the building resulting from a process design shared with the community.
An agora for students
Where structural or economic limits hinder the construction or renovation of schools, they can be transform internal spaces. The proof is in the project “The school of citizenship skills” which involved the architects Silvia Nessi and Mariella Bianchin in Three middle schools in the metropolitan city of Milan.
Restyling of one of the schools of Milan by the architects Silvia Nessi and Mariella Bianchin.
«Through the redevelopment of existing spaces but not adequately exploited, including corridors and atri, we have made flexible environments such as amphitheater with autochthonous wood elements and portions of colored plexiglass that allow the visibility of the interior during moments of relaxation. In closed version, however, It turns into a small agora for workshops and non -frontal teaching »explains Nessi showing the furnishings – pouf, steps and platforms – made in full respect of the environmental and social sustainability.
Protagonists, even in the participatory design phase, the Students and students who have expressed the desire not to be forced to live school hours in spaces and strict times. Have been satisfied.