A boarding school for around 3000 pupils, is to be created on the edge the new city of Ordos. The design required a study of Mongolian culture and the examination of the extreme climatic conditions of Inner Mongolia. As a context for this task we set up our own working theses about what a school is today. We see the Mongolian School Project as a small city within the city. With its combination of a low-rise high-density mesh in the peripheral areas and taller, more prominent buildings at the centre, the complex refers to and adapts themes of traditional Chinese urban planning. The school is divided into a number of districts by the squares. Towards the edge of the city the open sequence of squares terminates in large green spaces. Each school and each residential area is differentiated typologically to create optimal living and learning conditions that reflect the respective pedagogical needs. The inner spatial figure opens the school to the city and invites the residents of Ordos to appropriate the school grounds as public space.