The availability of natural micro-environments is useful in every kind of educational activity. Bioclimatic greenhouses are one of the main solutions for creating micro-environments that can be environmentally controlled via natural (passive) techniques. More specifically, bioclimatic greenhouses can guarantee environmental conditions suited to horticultural growing all year long.The here proposed educational module aims at designing and self-building a wooden bioclimatic greenhouse in the garden of a Milanese school - the Secondary School  "Alda Merini" in via Gallarate, Milan - and is supported by the mutual effort of the proponents and of the Secondary School itself.  The present educational design-build model is, more specifically, founded on the mutually cooperative contribution of some teachers of the Politecnico di Milano (Prof. Gian Luca Brunetti, Department of Architecture and Urban Studies; Prof. Giacomo Boffi, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Prof. Marco Scaioni, Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering), who organize it. The course is free of charge for the students of the Politecnico, and it is of the typology  "Passion in aAtion" (www.polimi.it/corsi/passion-in-action/).  ("Passion in Action" is the set of the free educational activities that the Politecnico di Milano proposes to its students in order to favour the development of transversal competencies, as well as soft and social skills, and to encourage/facilitate a personalized enrichment of their personal, cultural and professional background. Whoever is interested can take this opportunity and choose which activity to attend, depending on personal interests and propensities. The students attending "Passion in Action" courses can indeed attend the listed activities without constraints of thematic similarity to their course of studies - as allowed by the selection criteria of each activity.)
The course will be structured in two phases:

1. Design phase. Actions: outline of the requirements of the bioclimatic greenhouse, 3D survey of the site, choice of the architectural/technological solution, structural verifications.
2. Construction phase: after the acquisition of the materials to be used for constructing the greenhouse, the construction activities will take place with the contribution of the students of the course.

The time occurring between the two phases of the workshop will be used to improve the design idea, and to prepare the detailed drawings, define the list of construction materials and components, with the feedback periodical reviews. In this period it will also be possible to execute, if necessary, the construction of some technical sub-systems (like, for example, the foundations) that may require the intervention of a specialized workforce.
The three proponents have the competencies for supporting the development of the project. Specifically: Prof. G.L. Brunetti will deal with sustainable construction techniques; he already worked on similar projects in design-build contexts (see, for example, the project at the web address www.paolocarlessoarchitetto.com/greenhousegrowup); Prof. G. Boffi will deal with structural design; while Prof. M. Scaioni will deal with site surveying through topographic methods, photogrammetric methods, and 3D scanning. This group of teachers works together for some years in the context of the "Sustainable Architecture Construction Studio" within the international Master Course in "Architectural Construction" of the Politecnico di Milano (https://www.polimi.it/?id=6502&anno=2020&campus=&scuola=&corso=1017).

dal October 2021 a April 2022