English
Schools
Panaji [Panagi/Pangim/Panjim/Nova Goa], Goa, India
Equipment and Infrastructures
As the territory’s capital, Panaji concentrated the most schools pertaining to the various types of teaching. Only in the 20th century were most of these schools endowed with definitive facilities. Standing out among the primary schools for their different features and more urban aspect are the buildings of the primary schools of Massano de Amorim (c. 1928) and Fontainhas (1955), now Mary Immaculate High School. Both show careful attention to defining the streets where they are located. At the Massano de Amorim school, now the Office of Central Education, concern about the surroundings is evident in the main entrance’s corner placement. It was also in this area that emphasis was given to a more careful design with eclectic decoration. Besides the primary school constructions, two other schools also stand out in Goan territory: the Commercial and Industrial School (1955-57) and the Dr António Oliveira Salazar Nursery (1956). The Commercial and Industrial School comprises single-storey pavilions that form a patio. A covered gallery linking the various spaces joins the pavilions and splits the patio in two. The school also counted workshops, a gymnasium and laboratories. Besides the patio pavilions, a volume was behind the complex to the east. It is not known if it was built later. The school is a simple building with a modern vocabulary perfectly suited to the climate. Noteworthy is the attention paid to the main entrance, marked by a grilled portico that allows ventilation while protecting the school atrium. In 1963 the Goa College of Pharmacy moved there; it still occupies the complex. The building was probably subject to some changes at the time, specifically the closing of some parts of the covered gallery and modifications to the main elevation. The only feature remaining as it was originally is the symmetrical entrance portico on the main elevation. The rest of the elevation had a gallery/veranda which was closed. The veranda protected the set-back wall surface that was kept in the shade, thus highlighting the entrance. The Dr António Oliveira Salazar Nursery is the only such childcare institution built by the state in Goa; it nowadays functions as the Institute of Public Assis- tance. The building is slightly set back from the Rua de Ourém and had modernist vocabulary revealing some attention to the climate. The elevations are broken up into a series of volumes that project or are set back. The bays are protected by canopies and some have verandas; ventilation above each allows the building to be aired naturally. The building underwent some changes, specifically regarding the roof, which was originally flat. These buildings are good examples of school constructions with exceptional localisations and programmes. Yet they remain simple and pragmatic buildings which show concern regarding climate and meet the economic limits of the territory and Portugal.