Municipality of Villasanta - Province of Monza and Brianza
Task
National Competition
National design competition "New Kindergarten Tagliabue - Villasanta (MB)"
The national design competition invited participants to propose plans for the demolition and reconstruction of the old school building that was no longer fit for its function.
The building stands as an urban element of redevelopment of the existing context. Access to the new school building is not directly from the sidewalk, but from a green park. People have to cross the garden, pass under the old trees and finally enter the school. The access is on the street level, in continuity with the outside. A short walk through the 'forest' and then you enter the school. The project works with simple volumes that recall an ancient urban dimension made of greenery, intermediate filter spaces between inside and outside.
The entrance is located in a green pedestrian square. Children can enter and leave the classrooms in the green surroundings, completely safe. An old urban element has also been used: a cordonade, a staircase made up of wide, low steps with a slightly inclined plane leading to the roof terrace on the first floor. The staircase is a place for rest and play too.
The roof terraces are designed as green garden. The project saved the existing trees.
Particular attention was paid to the indoor learning spaces, which all have a direct opening to the outside, to create a symmetrical green classroom outside.
In addition to make all the outdoor areas walkable and safe, the roof of the first floor is also accessible to provide a terrace organised as an open-air laboratory.
The terrace has been designed to be a public place or at least accessible from outside. The classrooms open directly onto the garden and the preserved trees provide shade and shelter with their foliage.
