Located in El Encinar de los Reyes, an upscale suburb in the north of Madrid, Reggio School is no ordinary educational institution. Designed by architect Andrés Jaque, founder and principal of New York and Madrid-based Office for Political Innovation (OFFPOLINN), the private school eschews conventional building typology, swapping standardization, homogenization and surveillance in favour of a complex ecosystem that students are encouraged to navigate on their own. From the building’s quirky, cork-clad exterior, which looks like it’s has been drawn by the children themselves, to the wondrous interior that includes a semi-enclosed “agora”, an atrium that doubles as a lush greenhouse, and pocket gardens nurturing butterflies, birds and even bats, Reggio School’s ground-breaking design intertwines architecture and pedagogy underpinned by an educational process of self-driven collective experimentation.

Over five storeys tall, the school is made up of a series of stacked rectilinear volumes crowned by saw-tooth roof sections and punctuated by repetitive triangular and rectangular windows, large arched openings and googly eyes-like portholes. The result is a droll, offbeat building that looks like it was plucked out of one of Studio Ghibli's animated films or put together by a group of children asked to imagine a fun-factory. Made out of cork, the building’s rough-textured skin further enhances its imaginative appeal, imbuing the exterior with a primal, hand-crafted quality. Developed by OFFPOLINN as a natural alternative to the synthetic insulation materials, the cork wrapping also allows for organic material to accumulate, which will eventually turn the building envelope into a habitat for microbiological fungi, vegetal and animal life.