The project was designed in collaboration between the SOS (School of Sustainability) and MC Architects, thanks to the partnership with ActionAid and the Fondazione con i Bambini that was the economic developer of the whole project.
This project was part of the larger OpenSpace project.

​

___________________________________________

​

​

OpenSpace was create to face the problem of the school dropout. In fact, in Italy the percentage of children that drop the school is higher than European level (almost 13% in Italy, while UE suggests acceptable value equal to 10%). 

​

For this reason ActionAid as started a partnership with several associations to solve the problem educating children and family and encouraging their interest in the school. The School of Sustainability, with MC A, was called as architect to renovate schools spaces, because it is well know how much is the space important to guarantee adequate attention level and comfort. 
However in Italy, the larger part of school buildings are not efficient anymore, not only in term of safety but also because they do not respond to current needs of new type of education, while buildings continued to have strictly structure suitable only for frontal lessons, that are only a part of new model of education nowadays.

 

For this reasons, the project started with an overall analysis of current trends and historical development of educational spaces to understand witch features are fundamental to create new educational spaces. At the same time the research was also focused on low budget project and participatory approach that are basis of the OpenSpace project it self.

 

Tree schools are involved this year. ICS Madre Teresa di Calcutta, was settled in Milan and since the fist meeting with students the design team understood the  school was too sterile and dark and colours could be an easy way to let students feel better inside the building. At the same time first site visit demonstrates the  possibility to use large corridors as spaces in the middle between traditional lesson and discovery areas. 

 

Working together with the students the concept developed represent 4 different lines that stated from the totem in front of the entrance (it was just built together with them in the last participatory meeting) and ended in four different laboratories. The library, the art classroom, the fab-lab and the theatre. These new laboratories literally break the walls of the classrooms enlarging the space into corridors. The idea was create spaces in between from classroom and outdoors encouraging the school to open it self to the community.

 

Thanks to the financing of Fondazione con i Bambini the project will be built starting from the library-corridor in June and students will find what they are imaging together with our design team when they will come back to the school in September.

​

​

Team: Martina Bertoncini | Ilaria Colombo |  Martina Diano | Elena Todescato