The Escola Thau was designed by the architecture firm MBM (which stands for Bohigas, Martorell and Mackay). It won a FAD award in 1974. Its designers were strongly influenced by the early 1950s Californian schools; they were schools without classrooms, conceived as a large open space or square. Influenced by this idea, Thau School was created as a large space without walls for pupils. The most important criteria when it came to defining the project included searching for a very compact building, using as few walls as possible, carefully designing the exterior (described by the architects as ‘the city inside the school’) to encourage children to socialise, and the solar control system, thanks to which blinds separated from the façade allow air circulation and indirect light. The three-metre wide corridors and other common areas were planned for use as teaching areas; in fact, the corridors are currently used as ITC classrooms.