CIVIC OASIS. Pergola and sensory gardens project for the De Amicis-Da Vinci School
Description
2023
Outdoor learning for extracurricular activities
The CIVIC OASIS project was initiated by the Istituto Comprensivo De Amicis – Da Vinci in Palermo, a school deeply rooted in the Noce neighbourhood, an urban context characterised by social fragility but also by a strong demand for quality educational and civic spaces.
The school, understood not only as a place of education but as a neighbourhood hub and public infrastructure serving the community, took on the role of active and conscious client, promoting a process of transforming its outdoor spaces in an educational, inclusive and sustainable manner. Part of the PON-FESR 'Edugreen' programme, the project sits within a broader strategy of educational innovation and urban regeneration, where collaboration between school, university, professionals and the local community becomes a fundamental lever for strengthening the civic and social value of architecture.
Why the project was born
The client expressed the need to rethink and enhance the school's outdoor spaces as an integral part of the educational project, moving beyond the traditional closed classroom model and responding to the new challenges of environmental sustainability, social inclusion and educational innovation. In a fragile urban context such as the Noce neighbourhood, the request was to transform the school into a place open to the community, capable of fulfilling a civic and neighbourhood role, offering safe, accessible and flexible spaces for outdoor learning and extracurricular activities. The project's objectives were therefore to create quality educational environments, consistent with the PON-FESR Edugreen programme, capable of promoting a culture of care, a relationship with nature and active citizenship, through measured, sustainable and replicable interventions.
Project Solution
INSULÆ responded to the client's needs with a concrete, measured and replicable design solution, capable of translating a shared educational vision into a real and lasting space. Under the guidance of architect Mariano Genovese, the project transformed the workshop outcomes into a frugal and sustainable executive intervention, based on the conscious use of resources, constructive simplicity and flexibility of use. The creation of five thematic sensory gardens and a steel pergola as a shading structure gave shape to a new system of open spaces for outdoor teaching and extracurricular activities, improving environmental comfort and the quality of the educational experience. Architecture thus becomes educational and civic infrastructure, capable of activating relationships, strengthening the sense of belonging and sustaining over time the school's role as a social and cultural hub in the neighbourhood.
Results obtained
The CIVIC OASIS project has generated a concrete and lasting impact on both the Istituto Comprensivo De Amicis – Da Vinci and the Noce neighbourhood, transforming the school's outdoor spaces into functional educational and civic infrastructure usable all year round. The creation of five thematic sensory gardens and the atelier-pergola has created new environments for outdoor learning, fostering the discovery of nature, plant care and children's environmental awareness. Thanks to the intervention of architect Mariano Genovese, the ideas that emerged from the workshop were translated into a concrete, sustainable and replicable executive project, capable of guaranteeing continuity, quality and civic value to the participatory process.
