architecture design course, University of Patras, 2017
tutor: Kostas Grivas
The task of this studio was the re-design of a small neighborhood elementary school, and the inclusion of a kindergarten and a closed gymnasium. Also, we were given the opportunity to include the nearby Skagiopoulio complex in our design, which currently includes a park, a small café, a church, an orphanage and two listed buildings – the main is used as exhibition space and the one behind it is unused and in bad condition. In the contemporary Greek city, childhood and naivety are endangered. In an effort to provide as much protected open space for playing, I chose to concentrate the entire program in the park, also acting a regenerative strategy for the park. Averting the public gaze from the street and the neighboring polykatoikies, tall white walls circle the park, excluding the church, while a second reinforcement of walls defines the public park from the school zone. Parts of walls are scattered inside the park as faux-ruins of a once bigger, safer structure, providing more complex and personal spaces. In the middle of the school zone is a square and a big dome-shaped building, accommodating the school program and also a public library on the top floor. The six classrooms are small, independent buildings, also scattered between the trees and the walls, with protected outdoor concrete platforms. The old, unused, neoclassical building is re-claimed as a kindergarten, with a private playing area and sleeping hut. After the school hours and the classroom buildings are closed, the whole park can be opened to the public.
library
A tall, dome-shaped building situated in the middle of the park complex can be seen from everywhere. The school program is distributed inside the building, with the teachers’ offices at the ground floor, the parents’ conference room and two workshops at the first floor, and two more workshops on the second floor, along with wc and storage space. The top floor houses a public library, with a reception, book storage area and reading areas. The small openings frame views towards the park and the large circular skylight provides natural light to the space.
classroom
The classroom is conceived as a simple box volume, with a entrance for coats and shoes, a storage, wc and attic. The small rectangular openings frame views of the trees, polykatoikies and the sky. Each classroom has a small vegetable patch for gardening lessons and a courtyard for outdoor classes, during days with nice weather.
kindergarten
The kindergarten is housed at the smaller linear listed building behind the main Skagiopoulion building. Like the outer walls, the two opposite structure are connected with a tall wall with small openings, creating a planted courtyard. After the removal of the internal non-load bearing walls, two new volumes are introduced inside the building, for the wc, storage and the principal’s office. In the middle of them is the lobby and on the left side are two classrooms, separated with a curtain, allowing for joined lessons. Taking the small staircase leads to the upper loft space, with a bridge connecting the two volumes and a slide leading to the dining area. Inside the courtyard a small hut is used for napping outside, at the spring time, or for outdoor activities.
