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Sandy Attia on MoDusArchitects' 25-Year Journey in School Architecture

architecture-design · 2026-04-26

Sandy Attia, who co-founded MoDusArchitects with Matteo Scagnol, looks back on the studio's quarter-century dedication to educational architecture. A native of Cairo, Attia completed her Master in Architecture at Harvard GSD in 2000. The Bressanone-based firm specializes in public school designs across Italy. She wrote 'Progettare Scuole: tra Pedagogia e Architettura' and has played a role in shaping national educational guidelines. Attia criticizes Italy's bureaucratic barriers that stifle creativity, noting that it took 20 years to replicate their first wooden school due to regulatory challenges. Their successful FUTURA competition proposal in Ospedaletto aims to establish a fully timber primary school. She highlights the importance of local context in designs, referencing the Tartan School in Terlano, along with notable projects like Casa Kostner and the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center in Bolzano.

Key facts

  • Sandy Attia founded MoDusArchitects with Matteo Scagnol 24 years ago.
  • Attia earned her Master in Architecture from Harvard GSD in 2000.
  • MoDusArchitects is based in Bressanone, active throughout Italy.
  • Attia authored 'Progettare Scuole: tra Pedagogia e Architettura'.
  • The studio's first wooden school was a nursery in Bressanone 20 years ago.
  • MoDusArchitects won the FUTURA competition for a new primary school in Ospedaletto, Gemona del Friuli.
  • The Tartan School in Terlano features a multi-pitched roof design.
  • Casa Kostner in Castelrotto is a wooden artist's atelier and home.
  • The Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center in Bolzano took nearly a decade to complete.
  • MoDusArchitects has a team of twelve people.
  • Attia criticizes Italy's bureaucratic system as a 'system problem'.
  • South Tyrol is described as a 'lighthouse' rather than a 'happy island'.

Entities

Artists

  • Sandy Attia
  • Matteo Scagnol

Institutions

  • MoDusArchitects
  • University of Virginia
  • Harvard University Graduate School of Design
  • Fondazione Agnelli
  • Artribune

Locations

  • Cairo
  • Bressanone
  • Italy
  • Ospedaletto
  • Gemona del Friuli
  • Terlano
  • Bolzano
  • Castelrotto
  • South Tyrol
  • Alto Adige

Sources