A classroom for the outdoor learning. A bioclimatic approach on a real case

The paper focuses on the proposal to enhance schoolyards for inductive learning and the contact with natural elements. The result of an experience carried out on 3 schoolyards (the paper reports the study on 2 primary schools) of the same Institute (3 schools led by one head of teacher) with the aim of proposing the realization of outdoor classrooms. The environmental approach characterized the analysis from different points of view. For the school (Rinnovata Pizzigoni) which has already a simple classroom with a table and fixed seats, it has been proposed to enhance this space, through the insertion of new teaching equipment, the proposal for new gathering spaces of the class and armature for fixing mobile solar radiation protections and students' work. In the second school (Dante Alighieri) a first analysis, with the aim of identifying the best location for the outdoor classroom, was based on the evaluation of the thermal comfort conditions of different points in the schoolyard, accessibility, proximity to other functions and equipment (the gym, the vegetable garden, the exit from the building, the deposit). A second phase led to the design proposal, which provided for tables and seats, both for structured and more informal activities, a useful structure for fixing shading systems, but also student works and tools for assessing local environmental parameters.