Cagliari, Mereu School Garden

Mereu School Garden. Photo by Marta Cincotti, 2025, from Catalogo BBCC

The garden of the Attilio Mereu Outdoor School was built, between 1933 and 1935 on a design by the architect Ubaldo Badas as an essential part of the school complex, a significant example of rationalist architecture intended to accommodate children suffering from lung diseases in an open-air therapeutic and educational context. After the school was permanently closed in 1999, the complex fell into a state of decay, suffering illegal occupations and structural damage. Subsequently, recovery and redevelopment interventions were carried out. The site is spread over a flat terrace corresponding to the San Carlo bastion, close to the Embankment, in a panoramic position adjacent to the Embankment and the Public Gardens of Cagliari. It is accessed through a monumental portal that opens onto a tree-lined avenue with rows of ailants and oleanders. The outdoor space was divided into several sectors, partly still identifiable, with areas for outdoor teaching, shaded areas under loggias and cultivated areas. The layout is regular, with geometric paths, flower beds, paved areas and lawn portions. The vegetation included rows of mulberry trees along the margins, used for educational sericulture. Today, few examples of mulberry and Ficus macrocarpa remain along the border with Viale Regina Elena. The physiognomy of the garden is defined by lawn areas bordered by flower beds, mulberry trees, ficus microcarpa and various specimens of asbestos that define the access road starting from the monumental entrance. The geometric and regular paths connect the different areas of activity, while loggias and pergolas create functional transitions between open and covered spaces, responding to the school's climatic and educational needs.

Aspects of interest
The Attilio Mereu Outdoor School represents a rare example of rationalist architecture integrated into an educational and therapeutic garden. The garden, with its mulberry trees, testifies to the importance of sericulture as an educational practice widespread in the last century.

City of Cagliari: Public Green Geoportal >