Luca Cardani

This interview with Sandy Attia and Matteo Scagnol offers a nuanced reflection on school architecture as a civic and cultural act. Rooted in context, pedagogy, and typology, their approach resists standardization and reclaims architecture’s power to shape learning, memory, and collective identity.

The new Saleggi kindergarten pavilion blends into the existing park, with a modular layout centred around a central atrium. Flexible spaces, carefully calibrated skylights and essential materials create a bright and functional environment, complemented by Piazza del Noce and the playground.

The extension of the Cadro school continues the existing composition with a new volume for collective functions and an independent nursery school. Open spaces and courtyards connect architecture, landscape and educational programme in a continuous and coherent dialogue.

The renovation of the school in Vezia brings the historic building up to modern standards while preserving its material and formal identity. New volumes and flexible spaces enhance the relationship with the square, integrating energy efficiency and educational functions into a coherent and sustainable project.

The new Molino Nuovo kindergarten transforms a fragmented block into a well-organised urban centre, with flexible teaching spaces, an active green roof and a large public playground that strengthens the link between the school, the neighbourhood and the city.

The extension of the school campus incorporates a reinforced concrete base that enhances the existing structure. Modular spaces, metal structures and rhythmic façades ensure functionality and order, giving the complex a unified and contemporary image, rooted in the landscape.

A new pavilion expands the Manno nursery school, echoing its original layout and blending into the landscape with a sober and coherent design. Light, structure and space interact in a single classroom opening onto the garden.

The new kindergarten in Lamone fits neatly into a complex urban context, redefining spaces and relationships with sober, permeable architecture. A new boundary organises the balance between existing margins, open spaces and collective functions.

The San Vittore school complex is laid out like a small horizontal citadel, integrated into the open landscape. Flexible spaces and protected connections encourage educational interaction, while essential materials and natural light define a sober and rooted architecture.

What defines a school’s character today? This essay explores the evolving tradition of school architecture in Ticino and South Tyrol, tracing its roots, tensions, and typological continuities through exemplary projects and interviews with key architects.