With respect for the past and care for the future, the team of IPA joined the joint initiative of Sofia Municipality, Vazrazhdane District, and the Organization of the Jews in Bulgaria “Shalom” to create an educational center in the heart of what was once Sofia’s largest Jewish neighborhood - Yuchbunar.
Because with this project, we pay tribute to the 80th anniversary of the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews - a unique and unparalleled act of humanism in history, brought forth by the Bulgarian nation amidst the chaos and devastation of the Second World War.
Because we believe that by transforming the present into an aesthetic environment that fosters knowledge and creativity, we give younger generations the opportunity to grow up in peace and harmony - a world where understanding and respect guide both personal and collective well-being and progress.
We designed the educational center as three distinct but interconnected buildings - a school, a kindergarten, and a cultural center with a large library. Each of them features a leading architectural detail, just as each stage of youth development carries its own unique characteristics. For instance, the building for the youngest children, with its spacious and comfortable nursery and kindergarten spaces, “smiles” with colorful window frames.
The complex also includes a large sports center that will be accessible to the residents of the neighborhood.
For the facades, we chose clean lines and forms - like a white schoolboard, offering space for imaginary battles between knights and dragons, and for spaceships racing toward undiscovered galaxies. The color scheme - dark gray and white - is balanced across the facades and in detailing, to both give each building its individual character and visually unify the entire complex. Elements of terracotta tiles and brickwork are incorporated into each of the buildings. In this way, we not only symbolically continue the traditions of Jewish architecture and evoke a spiritual connection to the Sofia Synagogue, but we also leave a message to the children and youth: that success is achieved through small, steady steps - just as a building gains strength and life, brick by brick.
To give freedom to the emotions and minds of the children and youth, we not only designed the courtyard with soothing greenery and age-appropriate spaces for play, sports, rest, and shared activities, but also transformed the rooftops into gardens filled with rich vegetation and spaces for relaxation and connection. In the yard, we set aside space for a team sports field - not only an invitation to physical activity but a lesson in teamwork and achieving common goals through understanding.
The safety of the complex is ensured by a metal fence, discreetly “hidden” behind a green belt of shrubs. And so, the team of IPA leaves one more message for the younger generation - that boundaries exist to provide structure and safety, but not to create division.
