NEW PUBLIC SCHOOL IN SAN VITTORE
LOCATION San Vittore, Canton of Graubünden, Switzerland
YEAR 2020
THEME Architecture, Education spaces, Public school
STATUS Competition
DESIGNERS Tomaso Monestiroli, Claudia Angarano, Luca Cardani,
Alessandro Perego, Giovanni Uboldi
The reference context is a valley in the canton of Grisons furrowed by the Moesa River, characterized by the meeting of the plain on either side of the river and the mountain slopes that define it. The project area is a green field, connecting the historic part of St. Victor located on the slope to the paths along the valley. The choice of the project is to enhance precisely this relationship between the mountains and the meeting with the plain by directing the typology and arrangement of the buildings. A large lawn is the center of the entire composition to which all parts of the school refer, forming a courtyard oriented toward the plain and the mountains. It is the collective place of the community of San Vittore, the place of meeting, discovery, play, and knowledge.
The school complex consists of three self-contained buildings-the elementary school, the kindergarten, and the cafeteria-held together by an atrium, which ensures visual continuity between the new school square and the large lawn to the south. The new school square connects the entrance with the village center. In the center, an imposing oak tree reinforces the collective character of this place.
The atrium leads eastward to the elementary school, while to the west are the entrances to the preschool and the cafeteria. The atrium/foyer thus becomes the ideal covered and warm extension of the square in front, covered by a concrete coffered ceiling, a clutter-free space illuminated by skylights: an extremely flexible place that can also be used during extracurricular hours for city activities. The general choice of the project was to keep the building on one level, to integrate the building as much as possible with the natural landscape of the project area. The in-line body of the elementary school distributes all classrooms facing the central lawn. On the north end, facing the access plaza, are the teaching laboratories, which are also accessible outside school hours. The other side of the large lawn is defined by the kindergarten, which conversely faces classrooms on a fenced green area appropriate in size for younger children. Further north, slightly rotated to go along with the morphology of the land, is the multipurpose hall building oriented toward the connection with the public gymnasium park.
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L. Cardani (edit by) Studio Monestiroli Opere e progetti di Architettura Electa Milan 2021
IDENTITÀ DELL’ARCHITETTURA ITALIANA N18 2020