In the historic town of Piove di Sacco, Padua, Italian architecture studio AACM has completed Kinder Rain, a 672-square-metre kindergarten that reinterprets local vernacular architecture into a contemporary educational village. Drawing direct inspiration from the traditional Casone Veneto fishermen’s cabins of the Veneto region, the design features an ensemble of pyramidal roofs cloaked in terracotta tiles. This architectural choice was a deliberate effort to root the public building in the area’s cultural history, creating a form that feels familiar and welcoming to the local community. The studio’s co-founder, Rodolfo Morandi, describes the school as „a small village,” where abstracted roof forms gather around a central communal square.
The kindergarten’s internal layout is innovatively organized around this central square, or ‘agora,’ which functions as a primary playroom and circulation hub. By arranging all classrooms to face this vibrant, shared space, AACM eliminated the need for traditional corridors, transforming circulation areas into active learning and play zones. This design fosters a sense of community, allowing children to see and interact with peers from other classes, understanding they are part of a larger ‘society.’ Each classroom is crowned by the steep, pyramidal ceiling form, which culminates in a skylight designed to ignite the children’s imaginations with dynamic natural light.
Materiality and connection to the outdoors are central to the project’s ethos. Internally, a minimal palette of wooden floors, white walls, and wood fibre acoustic panels focuses attention on the building’s geometry while controlling sound in the tall volumes. The wood fibre panels also subtly nod to the thatched roofs of the traditional Casoni. The building opens generously to its green site through large openings that lead to three external courtyard ‘classrooms.’ These spaces act as a permeable filter between inside and out, with a paved walkway and terracotta-toned concrete benches wrapping the perimeter. From the central agora, visual connections to the surrounding greenery are maintained throughout.
Externally, the building achieves a cohesive, earthy aesthetic through its extensive use of terracotta. Both the walls and the iconic roofs are clad in terracotta tiles, with window frames and external benches finished in a matching reddish hue to create a unified appearance. Completed by the Milan and Padua-based studio AACM, founded by Rodolfo Morandi and Nicolò Chinello, Kinder Rain demonstrates how contemporary educational architecture can respectfully engage with local heritage to create spaces that are both functionally innovative and culturally resonant.
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Forrás: https://www.dezeen.com/2025/12/09/aacm-kindergarten-italy/.