Primary school
Collina d’Oro

1979-1984
Montagnola, TI

The essential and linear geometry of the primary school in Montagnola contrasts with the complex character of the existing buildings and creates a new space and new relationships. It appears as a courtyard, white-painted and marble-faced.
The building stands on an embankment that solves the difference of level between the square and the hill. On one side, the long flight of steps which leads to the school runs along a concrete wall, while on the other side it is open and marks the slope above the parking area.
On the ground floor there are the special classrooms, a gymnasium, the dressing rooms, the auditorium and the meeting room. The gymnasium has two entrances, one for students and one for the public.

The first floor is for educational activities only, it contains 5 didactic units, each unit consisting in two classrooms. Windows on both sides; on one side the inner courtyard, on the other side the surrounding landscape.
Children can play on the porticoes or on the terrace on top of gymnasium, with direct access from the first floor.
The building is composed of a painted white structure in reinforced concrete. The panel elements are in coil-coated metal glass, white or black marble and wood. The floorings and facing of the internal spaces are in light wood, granite paving in the courtyard, while the terrace is paved with prefabricated red and gray slabs.