Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Mayor Sala gives the keys to the building to the boys and girls - Photo gallery

Milan, June 3 2021 – Work on the new primary school in via Matilde Viscontini in Municipality 8 is finished, after two years of intervention. Today the mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, in the presence of the councilor for Education Laura Galimberti, the councilor for School Buildings Paolo Limonta, the president of Municipality 8 Simone Zambelli and the manager Milena Ancora, symbolically handed over the keys of the building to students.

"Today is truly a great day - said the Mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala -. Handing over to the girls and boys the school that they will begin to use from next year really fills me with joy. And not just because we managed to finish the project , despite the months of pandemic, but because the building that we are officially opening today to them and to the neighborhood is truly beautiful, a true model of how a school should be: accessible, sustainable, functional and safe. I am sure that the children, the parents and teachers will love this place from day one."

The school has a cutting-edge structure, with low environmental impact, with photovoltaic panels on the roof and reduced energy consumption. The building was designed to guarantee excellent acoustic quality and ensure quality internal natural lighting.

In designing it, a shared and participatory process was implemented which also involved teachers, parents, school collaborators, associations and children. The drawings made by the young students to imagine their future headquarters, called the 'School of Colors', were delivered to the companies that participated in the competition and one of these inspired the winning project.

The school complex was designed in individual blocks, with independent access, to make the gym, auditorium and library usable even outside school hours. The gym is in fact equipped with stands with 450 seats and the auditorium with an auditorium with 100 seats. The main building has 20 classrooms and 8 modular laboratories, including the music room and a space dedicated to environmental education. It will be able to accommodate up to 600 children.

The external green area occupies an area of ​​1.270 square meters and is divided into areas characterized by different functions, a large play area and three different microzones: the vegetable garden, the green classroom "the forest", the stepped classroom. The latter above all are designed to allow children to develop their botanical knowledge, observation skills, tactile and olfactory sensations.

The total cost of the reconstruction of the school is over 12 million euros, of which 5 million are EIB financing. During the ceremony, the figure of the vice principal, Francesca Scalabrini, who passed away due to Covid-19 last spring, was also remembered: the school, together with the School Building Department, has already started the process to name the building after her. new institute. 

"The opening of this new school – commented Paolo Limonta, councilor for school buildings – is an objective achieved by the entire administration. For this I thank all those who believed and worked for the creation of this cutting-edge building. It is an example of how we imagine the schools of the future: beating hearts of the community, inserted in the green context of a public park, with low environmental impact, ideal places for the growth of the boys and girls of our city".

"After the difficult months away from the classrooms - declares Education Councilor Laura Galimberti -, the start of the new study year will be a double celebration for the students of Viscontini. They will enter a new and modern school, always more participatory and open to the neighbourhood, with a gym and an auditorium for everyone. A space in which being a citizen will not be learned only from books, thanks to the parents' associations which, together with the territory, will expand the educational community".