Differentiated education center in Oradea

Diploma project:

Differentiated education center in Oradea municipality

Stud.-arch.:

Georgiana Ciceo

Supervisor:

Gheorghe Vais, Nicolae Socaciu

Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Technical Faculty Cluj-Napoca

The Differentiated Education Center targets children with high intellectual abilities in one or more domains and constitutes a framework in which these children are given the opportunity for an education that is tailored to their abilities and meets their needs.

In Romania, despite an estimated double the global average of gifted children (4% compared to 2%) and numerous national, European and global laws and recommendations supporting the establishment of such centers, no such program exists yet.

An association in Romania has been caring for these children for 20 years and, after many efforts, in 2008 the municipality of Oradea allocated a plot of land on Făgărașului Street, but financial factors prevented the project from materializing.

The chosen location is in Oradea, in the neighborhood of the one designated by HCL in 2008. The site is located at the intersection of Făgărașului Street and Calea Armatei Române and is adjacent to the Campus of the University of Oradea, the Romanian Army Museum, the future Museum of the Crișurilor Country, the Oradea County Library and the Youth Stadium.

The Center for Differentiated Education proposes to operate as a campus, containing: a school with grades 5 to 12, for an average of 240 students; a sports area (gym, indoor and outdoor sports fields); an accommodation area for children in grades 7-12, as well as for some of the teachers; a public area, containing functions of regional interest.

The four zones are located on the site, taking into account its neighborhood. Therefore, the sports area is located near the Youth Stadium, the accommodation area in the vicinity of the County Library, the school opposite the University, and the public interest area is located on the corner between the two streets, opposite the campus and the Romanian Army Museum. The diploma project details the school and the conference and performance center.

The Conference and Performance Center is intended to function as an urban hub for the area in which it is located. It enjoys many functions of public interest without having areas suitable for various cultural and public interest events. Thus, the building gives way to the corner of the city plot, forming a small square, from which a green outdoor amphitheater rises, playing the role of a promenade towards a café and an experimental theater, located on the 1st floor. The two public functions (two white cubes) 'throne' above the glass ground floor. From the described plaza, access is gained to the main hall of the building, which serves as an exhibition space and foyer of the indoor amphitheater. On the basement level are the dining room, kitchen, parking lot and dance halls. The latter, together with the dining hall, open onto a larger outdoor amphitheater, which is used to host the school's outdoor festivities.

The building is connected to the school building by a suspended, two-level, two-storey bar that marks access and creates a covered entrance to both the campus and the school. The connecting bar will house administration on the first floor and a library and media center on the second level, both directly connected to the school.

The school building looks like a white cube with perforations on the outside from the street, like a cloister of knowledge, while in the inner courtyard, green terraces are arranged asymmetrically on each level, offering different spaces and shapes for children to stimulate their curiosity, but also giving students the opportunity to go outside during breaks from any level. Each level has a similar layout - with socializing spaces located on the four corners, with various seating areas, storage spaces, as well as toilets and associated vertical circulation. In this way, the classroom area, located in the middle of the bars that make up the school, remains quiet. On each level there are multimedia rooms, and on the top level of the school there are music rooms and art workshops, as well as individual study rooms.

The variety of spaces and functions on the campus is designed to give children as many opportunities as possible to spark their interest and creativity, as well as to help them develop in as many different directions and areas as possible.