Developed around the idea of the internal courtyard typology, which in the countryside near Vicenza reflects the tradition of the large rural homes, an outpost of agriculture and vineyards, the school of Zugliano (project by studio 5+1AA) is composed of two L-shaped volumes placed frontally to form the courtyard of reference.

Marked by bright colors that give the public building an immediate impact of recognition and freshness, the two architectural blocks of the school complex respond to the functional program of having classrooms and the dining hall separate from the gymnasium and the administration offices.

The connecting and emerging element is the inclined roof, extending inward with a dynamic geometric design of distinct sectors, forming a continuous portico with wooden pillar-masts that reach the overhanging roof in the same material.

From the outside, the roof with its figurative relationship to the shape of the surrounding hills is faced in semi-translucent and colored metal slats that reflect the sunlight. The internal courtyard open to the sky becomes the heart of the building for teaching activities, recreation and gatherings.

A school as a public space open to the city and the territory, to which it is connected by analogies: the horizontal line of the cultivated fields, the shape of the hills and the mountains in the background.

photos by Ernesta Caviola – text by Matteo Vercelloni

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View from above of the school in Zugliano; the inclined roof rising towards the inner courtyard creates a dynamic game of interlocks to form a sort of cloister and internal portico that connects the spaces of the educational complex.
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View of the internal courtyard paced by the overhanging portions of the roof supported by pillar-masts in wood.
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View of the internal courtyard.
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View of an internal corridor.
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View of the internal courtyard paced by the colored facades and the overhanging portions of the roof supported by pillar-masts in wood.