Complesso scolastico Puos d’Alpago .

Project .

The area in which the project proposal is inserted is characterized by the presence of multiple building artifacts of different conformation and function, poorly related to each other and dislocated in a disorganized manner within the area so as to express no connection either within the space in which they are placed or with the surrounding context. As a counter-altar to this currently uneven and disconnected scenario soar the admirable Belluno Dolomites defining a unique landscape backdrop.At the basis of the submitted design proposal is the desire to compositionally and functionally reorganize the entire area with the intention of generating a school campus, unique and clearly recognizable. Starting from the realization of the new secondary school, respecting the identity of places and people, it is intended to return to the community an area entirely transformed, capable of generating recreational and socializing spaces, which is at the same time perfectly amalgamated with the history, values, morphologies, forms while manifesting obvious technological and innovative elements. Therefore, the proposal was characterized by incorporating sharp and angular forms that aimed to recall the jagged dolomite peaks surrounding the valley of!’ Al pago, made entirely of familiar and typical materials of the area such as wood, stone and glass, and with simple and economical construction technologies and processes. The entire system, following the example of the Anglo-Saxon campus, will have a strongly introverted and inclusive vocation, generating large, easily identifiable spaces for social and school life.The proposed Masterplan will affect the entire area subject to competition and is chronologically structured for 3 excerpts to be implemented over 15-20 years. During this time frame, the performance of the functions currently in progress must not be compromised by the progress of the works. For this precise reason, the interventions to be implemented have been designed consequentially, according to the priority of the activities housed in each of them. The school, with its crisp and clean forms, fits into the context by highlighting its own gesture of novelty and at the same time establishing a relationship of harmony with the built and natural landscape. The building consists of a modular wooden artifact having with parallelepiped formation, flanked on the west side by a prominent architectural glass facade that recalls the inclines of the surrounding mountain profiles. Observing the sloping surface from the large courtyard inside the campus, one alternately perceives transparency and reflection, sometimes giving a glimpse of the interior spaces of the school and sometimes rendering the image of the surrounding peaks.The other prominent element in the composition is the large sloping plate that picks up from the gentler slope, which directs the gaze of the users to the surrounding nature and, in winter periods, recalls the idea of a stone slab set in the ground.The school is an integral part of the community, as the outdoor spaces are designed for public use. The building’s facades, characterized by generous glazed surfaces, confirm the desire to create a place capable of visually integrating with the outdoors, with the life of the village and its landscape.The school’s composition is characterized by two clearly distinguishable, juxtaposed volumes that, by interlocking, interact and dialogue with each other, both outside and inside. Each contains functions congruent with its planimetric and altimetric development. The “cue “houses all classrooms for teaching activities, administrative offices, toilets, including those for the exclusive use of teachers, and a multifunctional environment, for socialization, meetings/conferences and examinations.The orientation of the building body ensures optimal lighting of the classrooms during the course of morning classes. In the afternoon hours, on the other hand, the large triple-height space is flooded with light, readily filtered by a sun-shading system on the facade. It is here that the grand staircase is developed: the main connection of the various levels, from which to experience the architectural void enriched by lush climbing plants.The building consists of modular structures, easily replicable, with the aim of reducing construction costs and allowing at the same time an easy replicability of production and construction processes, as well as facilitating future expansions and/or modifications. Therefore, the volume is composed of a succession of wooden portals that mark the composition of the building in blocks, recognizable even on the outside. The interiors are made entirely of wood in such a way as to give back to the child users the pleasant feeling of contact with such a common and familiar material. The sloping plate houses the rooms for specialized activities (art, science, technical/computer, music), a small library for the exclusive use of the plexus, teachers’ office with computer equipment, janitorial office, storage rooms, utility rooms and technical rooms. This building has two levels, one of which is lowered two meters above ground level, generating a double-height void surmounted by the inclined plate with a wooden ceiling, which warms the interior rooms. The lowered floor features two vast livable stairways that, together with informal areas and coworking spaces, enrich the playful and recreational aspect of the entire building. The mezzanine, on the other hand, locates classrooms for specialized activities on the first level and study and reading areas on the second level. The latter in particular, overlook the central void. The aforementioned spaces, are illuminated by the light filtered by the generous vertical glazing of the south and west elevations and the void of the “batten,” behaves as a buffer-space capable of distributing air between the interior spaces, through convective motions, favoring its recirculation.

Read more