L'idea
A new square for students
The idea to design a new Agorà degli studenti arose from the need to offer students new spaces for studying and interaction. The project involved the relocation of the offices, which for years had been located next to the classrooms, in order to create a large open space capable of accommodating more than 120 wired study stations at which one or more people can work and make use of both physical and digital materials.
The demolitions brought the original floorplan of the building to light, characterised by a single slanted roof with the upper extremity coinciding, then as it does now, with the window-covered opening towards the inner court.
The extreme uniqueness of the building and specific conditions surrounding it guided the selection of building materials, finishes and furnishings, all custom designed for this project: from the doors closing the apertures towards the classrooms, created to ensure adequate noise insulation during lectures, with handles geometrically reminiscent of the shaped profile of a handle designed by Ponti for this same building, to the finishes on the ribbed base of the walls, similar to the parapet finish on the entrance staircase.
This new square for students was immediately named 'Agorà', to symbolise a new place of exchange, interaction and joie de vivre.
