School building built in 50 days for the earthquake emergency in Emilia Romagna. From the front plaza, the building presents itself as concrete wall that acts as a fence. A strong wall, imposing, rough, that gives the idea of strength and the sense of protection to parents who bring their children to school. Once inside the fence the building appears to be a colored “world “. A series of pillars chromatically articulates the main facade. A school is a place for the growth and the education of children. We decided to characterize this space through the use of bright colors. The use of different colors, for different age groups in educational spaces, has been the subject of numerous studies at the beginning of the last century. The correct application of colors in education environments promotes psychological well-being. The motivations of the users, increases the quality of the environment and promotes the ability to concentrate. An educational environment - such as a school - needs a certain level of comfortable psychological perception that only a space - personalized through suitable colors - can give. An emotionally and psychologically stimulating environment helps to strengthen the sense of belonging of students towards the school, which becomes an important part of their identity and by that reduces the risk of vandalism. A structure designed to be an “emergency structure” must be rationalized to the maximum in order to optimize costs, its construction technology, management and daily usage. The necessities of the cities affected by the earthquake are the base from which all the design ideas were born, leading to a construction system whose strengths are construction technology, composition and distribution simplicity.
CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY: The chosen construction technology is extremely functional, fast and easy to build and complies with the Italian seismic legislation. The bearing steel structure is built over a concrete grade slab adequately armed and aerated. Sandwich panels are used for the external cladding of the walls and the roof. Due to their low weight, not overloading the steel structure, the low installation time required and their insulation properties sandwich panels result as the most suitable cladding material choice. The selected thickness of the panels, together with the use of proper air heating and cooling systems, provides the building with the requirements to achieve the Italian buildings energy efficiency legislation higher standard (Classe A). The external facade rhythm is based on the modularity of the panels so to reduce waist and installation time. Plastered drywall is used for the interior finishes. The single storey building is appropriately lifted from the ground level and complies with the distances defined by the Italian seismic legislation and the minimum standards as stated in the attached sllides to the tender technical specification (Capitolato Speciale di Appalto).
