Oltre Confine (Beyond the Boundary) is the thesis project by Matteo Paglieri, developed within the Master in Design for Children at IED Roma. The project addresses school space as an educational infrastructure, rethinking classrooms, inter-cycles and transitional areas as active environments for learning.
Oltre Confine
Thesis Project by M. Paglieri - Master in Design for Children - IED Roma
Academic year
2024/2025
Schools are often designed as a sequence of separate spaces with rigidly defined functions. Oltre Confine stems from a critical reflection on this approach and proposes a more fluid vision of educational space, where the boundaries between classrooms, corridors and shared areas become porous and relational.
The project unfolds through a research-driven process that combines direct observation, case study analysis and dialogue with contemporary pedagogical models, placing children’s perspectives and their ways of inhabiting school spaces at the centre. From this emerges the idea of considering transitional spaces not as neutral or residual areas, but as opportunities for interaction, movement, autonomy and informal learning.
The design proposal takes shape as a system of spatial elements and flexible devices that redefine thresholds, walls, furnishings and surfaces, encouraging interaction and spontaneous use of the environments. Rather than imposing fixed functions, the interventions suggest possible uses, leaving room for interpretation, play and everyday experience.
Project from the courses of
