School buildings. The competitions for the new Scialoia and Pizzigoni schools have been won
Milan, 5 December 2019 – The two competitions launched by the Municipality of Milan, through the online platform Concorrimi.it, for the construction of the Scialoia school complex and the new lower secondary school in via Pizzigoni have been awarded.
“Participatory buildings, conceived and experienced as spaces for relationships at any time of the day – declares Education Councilor Laura Galimberti –, real civic centers, as we would like all schools in Milan to be. These were the premises of the two competitions with the aim of receiving proposals that brought together the functional quality of the spaces, the technological performance of the building and the redevelopment of the context. The two winning projects, which will now be a model for all future designs, have fully grasped the suggestion of proposing learning environments open to new teaching models, educational spaces also because they were imagined according to environmental sustainability criteria, welcoming for children and young people , who spend most of their day here. Without forgetting the daily critical issues of existing school buildings, through these new school projects we want to experiment with innovative models, which can also be an example for future constructions, which will gradually have to replace the city's ancient heritage".
“In the days in which the Agnelli Foundation presents its Report on School Buildings, shedding light on the age of buildings throughout Italy - and it does so from a recently redeveloped Turin institute thanks also to a design competition managed with Concorrimi - from Milan comes a dual response of high quality redevelopment – comments Paolo Mazzoleni, president of the Milan Architects Association –. The Municipality's commitment in this area is notable and identifies the central moments of the intervention program in the quality of the project and in the open competition. The architects are and will be ready to collaborate on everything relating to the structural, environmental and educational redevelopment of schools".
The winner of the international design competition for the Scialoia complex was the designer Matteo Scagnol (group leader) with the MoDus studio, thanks to a 'park school' proposal, made up of a sort of archipelago of islands similar to each other, with soft shapes and surrounded by lots of greenery: the plot of over 31 thousand square meters at the foot of the North Park will remain for more than two thirds park and garden equipped for schools (Nursery and Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary), which will also have roof gardens to be used as spaces for learning and play. The buildings follow one another according to the 'growth of the child' and are connected to each other, through covered paths with shelters that also define possible work spaces, and with the neighborhood, through a cycle/pedestrian path that unites the auditorium, library and gyms open to all. The access roads to the new school complex (via Candoglia, via Sempliicità, via Trevi) will have safe routes, reduced parking and adequate night lighting. The project was designed for learning based on everyday experience, on lived experience and on the sense of belonging to the community.
The winning project in the competition for the secondary school in via Pizzigoni is by the designer Giuseppina Bellapadrona (group leader). The proposal is based on a clear modularity that allows you to choose different configurations of teaching spaces, both formal and informal, and relationships at various levels, conceived and designed for meetings and socialization not only at school. The ground floor, for example, was developed through the design of meeting and exchange areas inside and outside the school. The area occupies an area of approximately 9 thousand square meters which will host, in addition to the school, an auditorium and a gym with independent access to be used outside of school hours, a garden and a garden terrace. Designed following the methodological indications of the innovative, inclusive and sustainable school, it houses the canteen, the auditorium, the library, the gym, the teachers' lounge and the administrative offices on the ground floor; while the first and second levels host classrooms and laboratories. The connection spaces, on all floors, have a central meeting area and all the classrooms open onto the garden through large glass walls. There are three terraces: the one on the first floor was designed as a space for free time or as an outdoor laboratory, that of the second is divided into a garden, a space for small concerts and another more informal one, while the roof terrace, also accessible outside of school hours, it includes an athletics track, circular steps and trees. Finally, the external spaces of the school and park will be preserved and improved and a mix of new trees, bushes, shrubs and lawn areas will be planted: the redevelopment of the greenery and public spaces will follow a path similar to that of the 'Shared Gardens'.
Concorrimi.it was developed by the Order of Architects of Milan together with the Municipality of Milan and the Order of Engineers of Milan to guarantee anonymity and uniform conditions of participation.
Updated: 05/12/2019