Security and freedom in a kindergarten in Paraguay

In Villeta, a school for early childhood designed by Equipo de Arquitectura is an opportunity to convey the principles of social architecture which, beyond its functional character, stimulates self-determination in future generations.

Equipo de Arquitectura, Child Care Center, Villeta, Paraguay 2021. Photo: Federico Cairoli Equipo de Arquitectura, Child Care Center, Villeta, Paraguay 2021. Photo: Federico Cairoli

Equipo de Arquitectura, Child Care Center, Villeta, Paraguay 2021 ground floor plan

Equipo de Arquitectura, Child Care Center, Villeta, Paraguay 2021 sections

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Chiara Testoni
12 October 2021
Villeta, Paraguay
Equipo de Arquitectura
450 sqm
Learning
2021

Gianni Rodari used to say that learning is never-ending and that what we do not know is always more important than what you already know. Building a place of learning for people who do not yet know anything about the world is a responsibility that transcends the architect's task: here, more than ever, architecture is not just a functional container but an "incubator" of life. In a suburban area of a town in Paraguay, Equipo de Architectura has created an empathetic, emotional work designed to create an intimate, engaging contact between the children and the enclave in which they are taking their first steps.

The building is strongly dichotomous: while the exterior appears as a tight, protective bulwark, the interior is articulated in a series of open, interconnected spaces where children can freely experiment with textures, colours and smells in safety. The earth of which the architecture is made transmits primitive, elementary information which, on a sensorial level, evokes the image of an ancestral shelter, instinctively if not cognitively perceived.

Equipo de Arquitectura, Child Care Center, Villeta, Paraguay 2021. Photo: Equipo de Arquitectura

The complex includes four large spaces: two classrooms, each further divided into two spaces, a dining room and an administrative area. Each space opens directly onto a central open courtyard which is the nerve centre of the project, a place for play, exploration and interaction for different ages.

Equipo de Arquitectura, Child Care Center, Villeta, Paraguay 2021. Photo: Federico Cairoli

Technical measures such as cross-ventilation, green roofs, sun control and the use of durable, low-impact materials reveal a special sensitivity not only to climatic well-being but also to environmental sustainability.

Who you become depends on how you begin the bumpy road of growth in early childhood, in a subtle balance between protection and self-determination: this is where it is conceptually right to start because, as Rodari says, "a child needs to stock up on optimism to challenge life".

Child Care Center
Equipo de Arquitectura
Viviana Pozzoli, Horacio Cherniavsky, María Paz Sánchez
Las Tacuaras S.A.
Federico Taboada
Lucila Garay
Villeta, Paraguay

Equipo de Arquitectura, Child Care Center, Villeta, Paraguay 2021. Photo: Federico Cairoli

Equipo de Arquitectura, Child Care Center, Villeta, Paraguay 2021

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Equipo de Arquitectura, Child Care Center, Villeta, Paraguay 2021

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Security and freedom in a kindergarten in Paraguay

In Villeta, a school for early childhood designed by Equipo de Arquitectura is an opportunity to convey the principles of social architecture which, beyond its functional character, stimulates self-determination in future generations.

View Article details

Sections

Specials

Magazine

Security and freedom in a kindergarten in Paraguay

In Villeta, a school for early childhood designed by Equipo de Arquitectura is an opportunity to convey the principles of social architecture which, beyond its functional character, stimulates self-determination in future generations.

View Article details

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