Vico Pallonetto Santa Chiara Primary School
A play on the system of intervisibility and connectivity
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Year: 2018
Site: Vico Pallonetto Santa Chiara, Naples, Italy
Tutor Nicole David-Rees
A rich and varied environment supports children's learning and development. It gives them the confidence to explore and learn in a secure and safe, yet challenging, indoor and outdoor space. (Hodman, 2011)
The city of Naples, specifically in the radius of Vico Pallonetto Santa Chiara, it is known for its rich with diverse culture, history and tourism imbedded through the checkerboard urban layout of the region. Although, these areas are far from safe, especially for the children of the neighbourhood. It is scarce of dedicated children-friendly environment around the area.
My design strives for efficiency and less wasted space through the treatment of the classrooms and communal area and even circulation spaces. The driving concept of this design revolves around the idea of intervisibility and connectivity to encourage a small school community in a collaborative environment. Architecturally, my design explores the idea of a strong core as a symbol of a central social space and a form of secure supervision horizontally and vertically. It emphasizes the unobstructed views and dialogue between different spatial environments whether they are internal or external. Around it creates an efficient circulation and pragmatic organisation of spaces expressed through the modulation of space arranged in intricate geometrically ordered and grid plans, creating unobstructed views, sense of continuity, dialogue between spatial environments maintained in a strong centrifugal plan. With this plan it is an advantage to creating a robust and simple construction that still offers flexibility without disrupting the flow of the plan and prioritizes natural ventilation and daylight.
The materiality was initially looked for materials that manifests the qualities of the locality and continuity. It was inspired by the mix of brick, stone and wood of the locale context. The façade originally derived from the wooden shutters in the windows in the neighbourhood.