MOPI Elementary School

This stunning façade belongs to MOPI Elementary School, located in a very urban yet very green area of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  The façade is an abstraction of a tree and evokes the images of the neighboring forest.  The building by Brazilian firm Mareines + Patalano was conceived as four separate volumes connected by balconies, and forming a “U” shape that opens to the forest behind.  Translucent glass encloses most of the classrooms, flooding them with light.  To create accessibility for wheelchairs, all levels are connected by 8% incline ramps.  When finished, the top floor of the school will be a roof garden that overlooks the mountains.