New Kindergarten / Breggia

State of affairs
What is striking about the Breggia School Centre is the appropriateness of its insertion into the landscape, the discretion with which it relates to a natural context of great value. The buildings that compose it are adapted to the orography of the site by following its gradients; the complex, seen from a certain distance, takes on the features of a small village built on the top of the promontory. In these respects, the layout of the complex is clearly influenced by some of the works realised by Alvar Aalto after World War II.
The main volumes are generated by budding from a low connecting body, which branches off from the entrance hall; the arrangement of the volumes defines the various open spaces of the school, placed at different heights and each of which is characterised by a particular visual sphere on the landscape.

Project
The intervention intends to support the articulation of the complex’s layout through an addition that maintains its open character.
The project re-proposes the structuring theme of the existing layout, that of the wings stretching out towards the landscape, through an elongated building placed on the southern edge of the complex. The new wing replaces the existing retaining wall, fulfilling its function: architectural expression is thus given to the difference in height between the lower and upper areas of the complex.
The mutual shifting of volumes between the floors produces long porticoes, at the level of the refectory and the Nursery School. The silhouette of the building, seen from the east, is composed with the retaining wall of the play area, taking on vaguely zoomorphic forms.

Transparency
The project aims to maximise the potential of views of the surrounding landscape. The shape of the new volume determines spaces of great transparency, projected outwards and characterised by the passing view. The position of the building allows to enjoy from the main interior spaces – movement and quiet activity rooms – the contemporary view of the wooded slope to the south and the Muggio Valley to the north.