Primary School of Mantua
Montessori Classroom Furniture for «Piero Angela» Primary School, Mantova
When the Municipality of Mantova launched the project for the new «Piero Angela» primary school, GAM was appointed to design a complete educational environment, from desks to fitted wall systems, capable of meeting the needs of a contemporary school built on Montessori principles.
The school furniture project
A primary school classroom is never a neutral space: it communicates pedagogical choices, suggests behaviours, transmits values. Starting from this conviction, the GAM team developed a comprehensive Montessori classroom furniture project across two floors, covering 16 teaching rooms, laboratories, shared spaces and offices.
On the ground floor, the 5 traditional classrooms are fitted with individual trapezoidal tables, chosen for their maximum flexibility: they join together for cooperative work and separate for frontal teaching or individual study. The teacher's desk gives way to a round table: a simple but meaningful design gesture that invites proximity and supports small-group work.
On the first floor, the 11 Montessori-method classrooms, 10 of which are interconnected in pairs, feature modular square tables and low wheeled storage units, allowing the space to be reconfigured and differentiated micro-environments to be created within a single room. Every material is immediately visible and reachable even by the youngest children, encouraging free choice and autonomy: core values in Maria Montessori's thinking.
The Furniture System for 6-10 years students
For the colour palette, GAM chose contemporary, non-invasive tones that integrate with the building's architectural finishes without overpowering them. The school furniture is not meant to take centre stage: it makes room for the children.
The harmony of forms and materials is conceived as a metaphor for harmony in their development — what Maria Montessori called the principle of the "third teacher."
The Science Laboratory, spaces for children with special educational needs, the canteen, the staffroom and workstations for school support staff complete a project that looked at the whole life of the school, not just the classrooms.
The «Piero Angela» primary school in Mantova is a concrete example of how design, pedagogy and quality school furniture supply can work together to create a place where learning is genuinely inspiring every day.
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GAM has furnished thousands of schools in Italy and around the world.