Winning project at the OICE 2024 Awards, “Project of the year” category

A drop of water. A new spatial identity for a fragmented area.
The Castel Volturno Educational Complex is a unique architectural project: it will be the largest school complex in Italy, becoming the area’s main cultural hub, capable of accommodating thousands of students in a state-of-the-art educational environment.
The building’s floor plan takes its cue from a drop of water, generating an organic, sinuous form. The drop expands and condenses, transforming the movement of the Volturno’s water into a built form.
The building is characterised by a continuous spatiality, where traditional architectural elements dissolve into a single fluid surface. The ‘architectural skin’, marked by continuous distortions, is not merely an aesthetic feature but also a symbolic one: it evokes the constant dialogue between land and water, between nature and the built environment.
The Cittadella will house three main areas: the Garibaldi Institute, the Castel Volturno Centro Institute and the sports hall, creating an integrated environment in which every space is connected to the others and forms part of a single system.
The aim is to offer the school community of Castel Volturno an iconic project for both the urban and natural fabric, establishing itself in every respect as the area’s main cultural hub.
The integration of innovation, sustainability and respect for the natural and man-made environment guides the entire project, giving shape to a functional and symbolic complex destined to become a new landmark for the community of Castel Volturno.