Partly in line with that approach, the oval plan form makes each classroom space visible and encourages an open teaching approach where practice is visible to all. The roof area doubles as a playground and a running track, giving the students an endless ring to chase each other around. The Montessori pedagogy encourages children to learning through exploring and to a certain extent gives them a loose learning structure that they can develop themselves. The ring does not just have to work on a symbolic or aesthetic level but on a practical one, turning the central courtyard into a meeting point for the various groups that inhabit the kindergarten, and generating a communal togetherness in a manner that puts the Montessori theory in practice. Children are allowed to move about freely, fall down and get wet within a safe environment The large one-story halo-shaped building has an 183m outer circumference, and an inner one of 108m. The overriding image is that of a 'roof house' - an oval-shaped play deck which can be used throughout the year, primarily for free play, but also for more formal learning and assemblies. There is no play equipment installed, instead the architecture itself functions as a giant playground. Its most immediately captivating element is its circular orientation. Rather than impose physical boundaries on the children, the architects designed the kindergarten as a continuous space that allows for unfettered learning and play. Located in Tachikawa, Tokyo, Japan, and completed in 2007, the Fuji Kindergarten was designed by husband and wife architects Takaharu and Yui Tezuka, in collaboration with Kashiwa Sato. It was created without any walls or corners, and with a giant oval-shaped roof deck that allows children to play and run endless laps around it – two features that had to integrate the principles Montessori pedagogy as much as possible in the architectural, such as facilitating the children’s sense of self-discovery, or encouraging them to explore without inhibition, and to mix as much as possible, work and play, but also with each other. Awarded with the 2017 Moriyama RAIC International Prize, which recognises a work of architecture considered "transformative within its societal context", the Roof House or Fuji Kindergarten by Tezuka architects was not just hailed as a novel kind of kindergarten, but also as a building that opened a completely new paradigm for school architecture in general.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |