THE NETWORK

Municipality of Macerata, Extraordinary Commissioner of the Italian Government for Reconstruction, REO Marches Region, Mestica School District

THE PROJECT AND THE CONTEXT

The fifth intervention in the 2016 earthquake areas, ABF’s intervention took place at Sforzacosta, in the municipality of Macerata. The “ABF 0-11 Educational Hub” will be developed over several steps: the reconstruction of the new kindergarten, which will have dedicated spaces and a section for the crèche; and, in the existing primary school, classrooms will be redesigned and music, art and technology workshops will be created, which will also be open to both teaching and external users;

the garden and outdoor spaces that, in addition to hosting school activities, will act as a link between the Hub and the outdoors. The inclusion of the children’s centre in the Sforzacosta neighbourhood becomes an opportunity to reorganise all the existing spaces, including the external ones, in a functional way, in terms of accessibility and distribution, with the aim of defining a new educational hub that is a reference point and element for rethinking the master plan of a peripheral but strategic area for the city.

IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITIES

Restoring opportunities for personal growth and thus for economic and cultural development to the inhabitants of a town that had been deprived of them due to the 2016 earthquake, through the provision of functional physical spaces and centres for the development of various project ideas, such as the kindergarten and primary school workshops. Furthermore, through the construction of the school, the necessary support can be provided to families with school-age children to access services, thus helping to avoid depopulation. Furthermore, by making such spaces accessible outside the school context, a place that creates aggregation and a sense of community will also be able to include the non-school population, giving the possibility of the creation of a social dimension that is not to be sought elsewhere.

At the induced level, the Foundation’s facilities can also generate an impact on the local economy because, in addition to being used during school hours, they are also used during extracurricular hours or during the summer, encouraging a flow of people (families, educational staff, donors, masterclass students and teachers, etc.) who make a positive impact on the local economy.