Middle School Morières Les Avignon / N+B Architectes
© Paul Kozlowski
Architects: N+B Architectes / Elodie Nourrigat & Jacques Brion
Location: Morieres Les Avignon, France
Project Manager: Elodie Nourrigat & Jacques Brion
Client: Conseil General du Vaucluse
Project Area: 8,500 sqm
Budget: 13M€
Project Year: 2009
Photographs: Paul Kozlowski
roof plan
The massive stone of the implemented stone in a determinedly contemporary writing offers a complementary material and a depth to the concrete which usually can seem too smooth and cold. A real dialogue is born in the material. So buildings gets organized according to volumes registered under wide folds in concrete which roll about with it around them. The “VERS” stone establishes sides façades of folds in concrete. It offers a thermal slowness and gives rhythm to facades. The volume of the multipurpose room marks the entry of the middle school, at the end of the alignment of trees of the esplanade. It floats above the internal square serving at the same time as signal and as shelter for pupils.
© Paul Kozlowski
The middle school compound itself of different built entities which correspond to the different functions and scale of the program.
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- © Paul Kozlowski
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- © Paul Kozlowski
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- © Paul Kozlowski
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- © Paul Kozlowski
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- © Paul Kozlowski
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- © Paul Kozlowski
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- © Paul Kozlowski
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- © Paul Kozlowski
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- © Paul Kozlowski
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- © Paul Kozlowski
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- plan 01
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- plan 02
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- roof plan
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- north elevation
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- south elevation
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- section
I don’t mean to be critical, but my first impression was that this was a prison, not a school. It lacks windows, doors, color, life…
Indeed MZA…my first impression, will be interested hear student feedback. What ever happened to the “humane” school of design…Scharoun or the Hamshire schools team?
what is up with these schools looking like concentration camps/prisons…kids are not soldiers. Those open spaces are simply depressing…as an architect I can see the architectural value but it’s a school for crying out loud…
Well, at first I thought I would agree with you….but on second thought….
A school is fun if it has enough meeting points and hiding places. It may be a bit naive to think that painting walls in bright colors will make the all those kids happy. When I remember my school days, and look at this plans – it makes me smile. It is a blank canvas, I agree, but that could be a right choice.
let’s cut the BS people, kids need fun/interesting spaces not ‘depressing minimalist perfection’.
a little gloomy and pompous for a school, lacks charisma.
Looks more like a laboratory, boring and anal
Totally agree with the consensus here. And what good is a “blank canvas” if you can’t make art on it? Staring at an off-limits blank canvas is one of the most depressing things I can think of subjecting a child to. No, bright colors themselves don’t guarantee happiness, but basic intuition tell us that being happier (or more curious or more creative) is EASIER in places that don’t resemble the colors that we associate with punishment and death.
Speaking from experience of being educated in a cement box and as a parent.
But more effective than outsiders theorizing about what’s good for kids, another measure of success might be the extent to which the occupants (in this case, students and teachers) are able to influence the design process, and therefore are able to create a space that is most likely to meet their education needs — one need being the ability to understand through experience that it is our collaborations and decisions that create the world around us. I’m curious how open the design process of this school was. If it was, those are some very serious youngsters.
Just one other possibility:
The SEED: Casey Middle School
Casey Middle School students were directly involved in the process of designing and conceiving the SEED. The Architecture for Humanity Design Competition offered the perfect venue for a focused application of sustainable design strategies. Casey students were engaged in a series of brainstorming sessions, visioning workshops, design charrettes, and curriculum development as part of their Applied Science class.
http://www.openarchitecturenetwork.org/projects/3595
i think the only thing that make the building feel like a prison is the railing, it looked like having electric shock if the students want to play truant. I have no comment on the building, but the ambiance is dry and austere….!The landscape plays important role here to live up the space..!!!
i think the only thing that make the building feel like a prison is the railing, it looked like having electric shock if the students want to play truant. I have no comment on the building, but the atmosphere is very dry and austere here….!and the hardscape make the learning paradise looked like hell!The landscape plays important role here to live up the space..!!!
probably we can wait for the trees to grow!
12:40 AM Jan 19th
RT @archdaily: Middle School Morières Les Avignon / N+B Architectes http://bit.ly/56eUdC
12:52 AM Jan 19th
Middle School Morières Les Avignon / N+B Architectes http://bit.ly/6kxifh
10:35 AM Jan 19th
RT @archdaily: Middle School Morières Les Avignon / N+B Architectes http://bit.ly/56eUdC
7:59 PM Mar 25th
arquitetura é linda, né, gente? te amo, arquitetura! http://www.archdaily.com/46597/middle-school-morières-les-avignon-nb-architectes/