The Fuji Kindergarten (Ring Around the Tree School), Japan

Located in the Tokyo suburb of Tachikawa, its appearance is distinctly Japanese. Its design has taken its influences from the culture of the Japanese people. The school’s ‘forward thinking’ headmaster, Mr Sekiichi Kato asked Japanese architects Takahuru and Yui Tezuka, to create the Kindergarten. 

In the centre of its circular structure stands a magnificent  Zelkova tree, which lends the school its name. Standing for over 50 years, this tree is hugely symbolic to the local people, been climbed by local children for five decades, as well as surviving a typhoon. The husband and wife design team constructed a circular climbing frame around the tree, which allowed the children to engage with the tree while they play, providing a stimulating enclave for learning and play. Its design is organic, crafted and modernist, with a strong Scandinavian influence. Its use of natural wood and glass show that nature has been embraced and celebrated in the design. The way in which they approached the design was most likely influenced by the fact that Takahharu and Yui Tezuka are parents to young children; giving them a personal insight in what they felt was needed in creating a learning environment. It is apparent that culture has had a greater effect on this design due to the importance of symbols in Japanese society. Culture has affected almost every aspect of the design process. From its original inspiration, 'the legend of Buddha preaching under a linden tree’, the material choice and layout that enhance its teaching style, to the climbing frame which allows interaction with nature and incorporating the Zelkova tree, the Japanese tree of knowledge.

The building consists of a large single story oval, the school is set around an inner courtyard used for play and teaching.  This design allows for the children to view and interact with the surroundings beyond the school site, thanks to the addition of a roof deck. This use of the flat roofing allows the opportunity for further play and, in particular, promotes exploration of their environment, which is another similarity shared with Los Cachimanes Primary school. The classrooms are located on the ground level. With natural timber flooring and white ceilings the design is minimal and functional. A sense of freedom, openness and light was created with a wall of glass looking onto the central courtyard. This effect is also mimicked in the classrooms layouts. With no fixed partitions classes are able to interact. “With no hidden rooms, children will automatically adopt socially acceptable behaviour pattern”.

The school design was affected, and aided the school’s approach to teaching, Montessori. It encourages independence, freedom and respect of a child’s natural development. It is clear from this case study, that creating an environment that allows for interaction, exploration and play, has a positive effect on social development as well as encouraging skills, such as curiosity and creativity through play and interacting with other students.

The Maria Grazia Cutuli School, Afghanistan

fig.1

How would an architect approach designing for a school in a war zone? This problem was faced Mario Catuli when setting up a school in memory of sister, Sicilian journalist Maria Grazia Cutuli who was killed while reporting in Afghanistan. In the base of the Hindu Kush Mountains, an area once dominated by the Taliban, the Maria Grazia Cutuli School (see fig.1) stands as a symbol of local defiance. Presenting a message of hope, for the country’s future generation. With an emphasis on safety, it is apparent that the main priority in the school’s design is to create a protective environment, which provides stability in Afghanistan’s social and political unrest. Inside its protective walls of reinforced concrete and solid brickwork, the layout of the building’s simple, functional classrooms surrounding the central library are a constant reminder of its emphasis on being a place of learning.

fig.2

The overall layout of the school compound is in line with traditional settlements of the area, consisting of eight separate buildings set behind walls. Thought architecturally it doesn’t look out of place with its surrounding environment, the use of three shades of vivid blue and its red window frames, are a bold element (see fig.2). With its use of strong colour and the nature of which it was created (in memory of a foreign national) this project had the risk of being alienated within its surroundings. In the sensitive environment of a nation trying to rebuild itself after decades of unrest, it was important that Mario Catuli turned to the local surroundings and Afghan history for inspiration. Taking references from the surrounding architecture, his design team were able to create a building that fits into the landscape and looks as if it has been there for ‘generations’. Though their use of bright colours might seem unusual and out of place, it in fact provides an unmistakable landmark on the barren landscape, and has cultural roots in ‘local tiles, lapis lazuli, and of the gowns and burkas worn by local men and women’.

Similar to the Los Cachimanes Primary school, the school’s unique appearance creates a sense of individualism and self-identity. In particular, it provides a sense of identity to a group (women and children) which was often overlooked in Afghanistan society and signals a change towards a newer, more democratic Afghanistan. Traditional methods of building also provided a solution to the problem of the extreme climate of this region. Both this example and Los Cachimanes Primary school in Spain are both set in arid and hostile landscapes, and their culture has had some visible effect on their overall design. The Maria Grazia Cutuli School has a more reserved approach too its design, which is most likely due to the reserved culture of the Afghan people.  In further similarity with the school in Spain, both schools are an example of creating design on a limited budge.

Los Cachimanes Primary school, Spain

Fig.1

The need for a new local school, situated in the middle of the arid plains of Torre- Pacheco, South-eastern Spain, allowed the perfect opportunity for the Spanish architectural firm Estudio Huma to design in an environment that was the ‘Ultimate blank canvas’. The result is a radical design consisting of two single story buildings surrounding a sandy playing area (see figure.1). Its jutting, geometric structure is coated in artificial grass (see fig.2) which provides a playful and tactile surface for interaction and play, also creating the allusion of an ‘abstract desert oasis’ that ‘nourishes its inhabitants’, in an organic environment. 

Fig.2

Here they have created a learning environment that promotes imagination and creativity and actively encourages children to interact in the space. Its exterior contrasts with the smooth concrete of the classrooms, both durable and cooling, in the Spanish summers. It also proves to be instructive, with its use of colourful symbols guiding the pupils through the space (see Fig 3). It would seem that this design is a direct response to its desert surroundings, but setting it in juxtapose with its environment, The Cachimanes project is an interesting example of design in a context that offers no positive qualities that the architects can adopt. They created an instantly recognisable landmark within a new urban development that both contrasts with its environment and, at the same time, seems to embrace a sense of fun and humour, with the use of the artificial grass which covers the school’s abstract shape.

Fig.3

In a region that is one of the driest and hottest in Spain, material choice is an important factor to consider. The desire to use real plants, previously mentioned by the project’s architect, Eduardo Garcia was out of the question. The design team had to search for alternative solutions to create the same look on a ‘shoestring budget’. The Los Cachimanes School resides in a country which is hugely experimental in its approach to architectural design, from Gaudi’s buildings in Barcelona to the iconic Madrid airport. Culturally, Spain has shown in the past and present day an acceptance and willingness to push the boundaries of architectural design. This argument is further supported by the Baix Llobregat primary school outside Barcelona, which used brightly coloured tiled facade to the main building to bring a sense of playfulness to an otherwise simple building(see fig.4). 

Fig.4 Baix Llobregat Primary School