In South Tyrol, much attention is paid to the architecture of educational institutions. Therefore, when in this province they realized the discrepancy between the existing standards for the construction of schools and kindergartens and new, more modern forms of education, the building codes in this area have become much more flexible since 2009. Now architects are allowed to freely dispose of square and cubic meters without any restrictions on the size of corridors, classrooms and other premises for the sake of educational programs.
Interaction between teachers and architects in the design process has become mandatory; educators must now clearly articulate what kind of building they would like to get as a result. According to the Tyrolean authorities, this approach should help educational institutions reach a fundamentally new level, otherwise, if the architect creates a building without taking into account the pedagogical concept, then it risks its form not to coincide with the function. Also in South Tyrol, they realize that it is time to modernize existing schools and kindergartens in order to turn them into more flexible spaces that would help develop children's abilities and allow them both to feel part of the community, and to be able to retire and, for example, read in loneliness book.
Children's Center for the Firmian District, Bolzano
South Tyrolean architecture firm MoDus has won an international competition for the design of a children's center in the new residential area of Firmian in Bolzano. The challenge for the architects was not just to create a building that, together with the church, would form the cultural center of the district on the square, but also to combine the functions of a nursery, a kindergarten and a family center (a special space for parents to communicate) in the project.
The completed project is a two-storey curvilinear building. Its main axis is lined with bamboo-lined patios. On the east side of the children's center is the entrance to the kindergarten, which has four sections for group lessons on the ground floor and a number of rooms on the second floor. Each class here received large windows and a loggia, and a lot of natural wood (mainly oak) was used in the interior, special acoustic elements were integrated into the lamps. The rooms on the second floor, which divide all areas of the children's center: a conference room, a multifunctional room and a music room, are perfectly illuminated thanks to the skylights on the roof, as well as large side windows. The music room is circular and protected by soundproofed plaster on the ceiling and acoustic wood panels. On the same level, there are creative laboratories and a kindergarten sleep room.
The entrance to the nursery is located on the north side of the building. The nursery is separated and at the same time visually united with the family center by a glass wall. On the ground floor of this section, there are bedrooms, rooms for creativity and teaching activities, and on the floor above there is a creativity studio, a space for educators, as well as a terrace from which you can enter the central corridor through large sliding doors.
The entrance to the family center features a generous double-height lobby area and a glass wall overlooking the courtyard. On the first level, all the rooms here create an atmosphere of security and comfort, and on the second floor there is a green exploited roof (it was made not only for beauty, but also because of the law in the province of Bolzano, according to which the impact of residential buildings on the environment should be minimized) … The family center, at the request of the authorities, should become a meeting place for parents and children of the new district.
In the project of the children's center in Firmiana, the teachers, together with the architects, wanted to emphasize the importance of the sequence of processes in the upbringing and education of the child by creating a natural transition in the architecture of this building from nursery to kindergarten and, then, as they grow older, to meetings at the events of the family center.
One cannot fail to note the desire of the authorities, teaching staff and architects to cooperate, as well as the province's openness to changing building codes, which helped to radically improve educational institutions there.
Reconstruction of the historical school in the city of Ora
Architects from the MoDus bureau believe that a good building for children is not just a "container", but a space for their development, enriching the educational process. In South Tyrol, during the creation of new schools and kindergartens according to the new standards, they quickly realized that the old educational facilities also needed to be completed. One example of such a restructuring was the reconstruction of a school in the commune of Ora.
The central theme of the project was the centenary chestnut tree in the schoolyard: architects and teachers wanted to integrate this tree as much as possible into the project, since South Tyroleans are characterized by great respect for nature. Besides the fact that he was given a place of honor on the new school square, the motif of his foliage was transferred to the facades - in the form of an “applique” made of steel.
Two new white compact volumes flank the historic school building. This contrasting technique was chosen specifically to highlight the individual entrances. The chestnut motif is reflected not only on the outside, but also in the pleasant-to-touch panels on the walls of the premises.
All the common functions of the two schools (old and new) - such as a multifunctional hall, a library, dressing rooms, administrative premises - are located on the lower levels of the building. A zigzag corridor connects the three volumes of the educational complex horizontally. The headmaster saw the renovation as an opportunity to develop new approaches to teaching and wanted to get stimulating communication between students in a building with fewer rigid premises and more spaces that are conducive to informal meetings.
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It is important to note that both the school reconstruction project in the Ora commune and the children's center in the Firmian district are distinguished by a calm color scheme, while in Russia it is tacitly believed that everything that is designed for children must be bright. Tyrolean projects show that the liveliness of color is certainly possible, but not at all necessary, and for children, the more important is the variability of spatial solutions - which, unfortunately, is not often possible to talk about in the case of domestic schools and kindergartens. Also very important is the aspect of joint work of teachers and architects on Tyrolean projects, great flexibility and willingness to cooperate on each side. Based on this invaluable experience, a book has been published on the design of educational institutions with various concepts from educators, municipal authorities and architects.
