The greatest challenge in architecture probably lies in expressing meaning through form, using the tools and resources provided by a specific context. The project for the Istituto Duca degli Abruzzi reflects this search for meaning, despite being located in a context seemingly poor in resources and opportunities. The site lies in one of those transitional zones generated by the city's expansion—originally designated for agricultural use but degraded by its own urban encroachment and the resulting ambiguity of function.
The dual role of the building—as a school facility serving the city, while also addressing the needs of rural development—allowed the designers to experiment with a new way of engaging the relationship between city and countryside. The building combines urban typological elements with the rural character of a working farm. It is composed of elementary geometric forms, generating an architecture of clear tectonic compactness and formal introversion.
Due to its scale, the building becomes a visual landmark in the landscape, emphasizing its self-sufficient nature. The use of exposed brick (double UNI size) is not only a cost-effective choice but also a meaningful reference to the surrounding agricultural context. It accentuates the building’s compact and introverted character, evoking Anglo-Saxon abbeys. Internally, however, the building opens up, coming to life through a sequence of three courtyards generated by the intersection of the two main volumes and the transverse distribution elements housing the staircases.
The first courtyard marks the main entrance, flanked by porticoes and closed by a solid wall that signals access. The second courtyard contains a cubic volume—the library—which recalls Oswald Mathias Ungers’ experiments and the concept of nested forms, like a “doll within a doll.” The third and final courtyard, primarily occupied by the auditorium and cafeteria, takes on an apsidal shape, with its radius centered on the library. This form not only symbolizes the library’s importance in the school, but also serves as the compositional genesis of the entire complex. As the building’s fulcrum, the library is accessible via enclosed and covered walkways from both transverse connectors, and it is organized on two levels with a perimeter balcony for book storage.
The transverse distribution elements are characterized by large glazed surfaces that create transparency and allow views across the courtyards. This sequence of voids is clearly perceptible: entry courtyard (void), inner courtyard with library (void-solid), and finally, auditorium and dining area (solid). The apse and the kitchen’s chimney flue complete a highly symmetrical composition, evoking Aldo Rossi’s architectural arrangements and the pursuit of complexity through simple forms.
This design approach—based on simple lines, archetypal forms, and basic construction techniques—risks, on one hand, producing a kind of "collage" of elements to be assembled as needed. But on the other hand, it enables the construction of those “figures in the void” often seen in academic drawings. It reveals their ability to respond to the practical needs of everyday life, ultimately endowing the built work with the values and meanings that are so difficult to capture—yet essential to the architect’s craft.

Text by Massimo Faiferri – from “Qualità Oggi” No. 2 – September 1991

Design competition

Client: Province of Cagliari
Construction company: SO.DE.CO. srl
Project: 1987
Construction: 1989