An educational garden in Fiorano Modenese – NextLandmark 2020

Young architects and creative artists in the disciplines of architecture and design are invited to enter an "ideas contest" in anonymous individual form: the international NextLandmark contest promoted by Floornature and Fondazione Iris Ceramica Group.
Projects can be uploaded until 30 May 2020 using the form of representation considered most appropriate and effective, in compliance with the call for entries, available for download online.
Participation in the ninth edition of the contest is open to professionals who graduated from university no earlier than 2010, who are invited to propose an idea for the new garden of “Casa Coccapani” nursery school in Fiorano Modenese (MO). Entrants may find a survey of the current state of the project site in their own Personal Area on the website, along with photographic and video documentation of the contest site. The project must take into account the objective limitations of the budget, which must not exceed 40,000 euro. The organisations and institutions promoting the contest have appointed the members of the jury: Mario Cucinella (MCA ARCHITECTS / School of Sustainability), Massimo Imparato (SOS - School of Sustainability), Don Antonio Lumare, parish priest in Fiorano Modenese (Chairman of Fondazione Coccapani), Francesco Tosi, mayor of Fiorano Modenese, Federica Minozzi (Fondazione Iris Ceramica Group), and Paolo Schianchi (architect and professor at IUSVE); the prize is a scholarship for the Master’s Programme in Sustainable Design at SOS - School of Sustainability, including a one-way trip to the city of Bologna, where SOS - School of Sustainability is located, online publication of the project through all the Group’s media and a certificate for the winner of the 2020 NEXTLANDMARK INTERNATIONAL CONTEST.

The goal of the project is to redesign the outdoor areas in "Casa Coccapani" nursery school without making any substantial changes to the layout of driveways or removing any of the existing trees. The school recently underwent a seismic retrofitting and renovation project, which however did not include any changes to the outdoor areas. The ideas contest invites entrants to transform a space with no outstanding features into an "educational garden", a comfortable, protected play area where children can learn and discover the world. The call for entries identifies its qualities and features and suggests a functional programme and the corresponding types of space. There will be two main areas: the "community zone", a barrier-free plaza encouraging children to play together, and the "outdoor zone", an area where children can explore nature and biodiversity in the garden. Other areas that may be added include a Discovery zone (an educational vegetable plot), an Active Breakout Zone (an open-air gym and play area), a Display zone (theatre and outdoor performance area), a Quiet Zone (a place for relaxing and interacting), a project zone (for teaching), and an Active Store (where children will be able to find or put back toys and teaching aids).
The ambitious programme is an invitation for architects and designers to act with social responsibility, because designing places of learning for new generations means laying the foundations for the growth of the individuals who will be designing the communities and societies of the future.

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