A dense mass and alien to light and natural scenery with a linear and boring structure from the successive repetition of classrooms, as if it is more like a penitentiary or a barracks than a space for the growth and excellence of creativity and the blossoming of wisdom and knowledge. These cold and dark phrases are a description of the life experience and a slice of the educational memory of most Iranian students in the last few decades.

School architecture has always been a subject of debate and challenge in many societies. We all believe that the architecture of the educational space has an effective role in the future of students in a country. The basic question is whether this architecture should be along the lines of obedience and sanctity of traditions or a space for children’s talent to blossom and create courage in them to break tradition and explore new territories.

Nowadays, new experiences of architecture and education generally rely on releasing students’ talent and creating belonging in them. In this way, by creating a suitable physical and qualitative environment, schools will no longer resemble prisons. With this experimental and critical point of view, the main design concept of Rastgari Primary School was formed in one of the most deprived marginal areas in the southeast of Shiraz and in a site in Sharif Abad neighborhood.

The first step in the process of this critical design was to break the impenetrable, introverted and single-volume structure in educational spaces. This means that a single mass is divided into several independent and self-sufficient blocks, each of which houses different parts of the school’s performance. For example, it is divided into educational, cultural, artistic and administrative spaces at different levels. In addition, the space between the masses increases the quality of attendance and dynamic training. These middle spaces are suitable for providing light, visibility and scenery. In addition, the middle spaces in its northern joint are framed by single elm, maple and sycamore trees.

On the south side and at the entrance of the school, red lines have been painted, surfaces and paths, gathering spaces and playgrounds. This color penetrates into the school building on the main road and covers the structure of stairs and bridge.

Then, this red path, like a red ribbon, sews together the white functional blocks and the transparent communication joints of the interior spaces. These lines, surfaces and graphics, which start from the project’s landscape, break the sculptural form of the building and give unity and coherence to the interior and exterior spaces to form the architecture of the school. In addition, at the highest level, it reaches open classrooms and workshops in the school’s roof garden. Then, like a Möbius strip, it returns to its starting point in the yard and playground. This active, dynamic and infinite connection between the outside and inside of the project and its open and closed spaces is the reason for the effectiveness of the project.