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| Kids and the city: how do you build the perfect space for children? | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Whether it’s the Radical Childcare Hub in Birmingham exploring parent-led co-operatives, or an experimental nursery located within a care home in Seattle, designers and innovators are coming to the same conclusion: in order to build the perfect city for children, you have to create the right environment for all ages. | Whether it’s the Radical Childcare Hub in Birmingham exploring parent-led co-operatives, or an experimental nursery located within a care home in Seattle, designers and innovators are coming to the same conclusion: in order to build the perfect city for children, you have to create the right environment for all ages. |
| As the groundbreaking kindergarten architect, professor Takaharu Tezuka, puts it: “It’s important to design a society that is interdependent. We can put the elderly right next to the kindergarten – actually that is how society used to be. These days, society tries to solve all its problems by dividing life into small puzzles, but if you put them together, you can see the bigger picture.” | As the groundbreaking kindergarten architect, professor Takaharu Tezuka, puts it: “It’s important to design a society that is interdependent. We can put the elderly right next to the kindergarten – actually that is how society used to be. These days, society tries to solve all its problems by dividing life into small puzzles, but if you put them together, you can see the bigger picture.” |
| This holistic approach to design for children was a key theme of Making Space 2016, an international award and conference hosted by Children in Scotland last month, where Tezuka delivered a keynote address on design for children. He has garnered global plaudits for his oval-shaped Fuji Kindergarten, near his native Tokyo, where there are no physical boundaries between classrooms and the outdoors, and the roof forms part of the playground. | This holistic approach to design for children was a key theme of Making Space 2016, an international award and conference hosted by Children in Scotland last month, where Tezuka delivered a keynote address on design for children. He has garnered global plaudits for his oval-shaped Fuji Kindergarten, near his native Tokyo, where there are no physical boundaries between classrooms and the outdoors, and the roof forms part of the playground. |
| Seattle has a preschool for under-fives located in an elder care facility, with an average age of 92 | Seattle has a preschool for under-fives located in an elder care facility, with an average age of 92 |
| Designed around a philosophy that values children’s right to play as well as learn, Tezuka is determined to change the way we design for the youngest people in society. “We need discussion and debate on an international platform about whether the needs and rights of children to play and learn, uninhibited, are sufficiently understood and taken into account during the architectural design process,” he explains. | Designed around a philosophy that values children’s right to play as well as learn, Tezuka is determined to change the way we design for the youngest people in society. “We need discussion and debate on an international platform about whether the needs and rights of children to play and learn, uninhibited, are sufficiently understood and taken into account during the architectural design process,” he explains. |
| “If you go to some kindergartens, their playgrounds are covered in plastic, everything’s flat, and there’s no challenge in their life. Maybe the children feel safe there when they’re small, but they’ve lost the chance to learn as they grow up.” | “If you go to some kindergartens, their playgrounds are covered in plastic, everything’s flat, and there’s no challenge in their life. Maybe the children feel safe there when they’re small, but they’ve lost the chance to learn as they grow up.” |
| The Fuji Kindergarten is quite the antidote to these sanitised designs: built in the shape of an oval with a perimeter of 183 metres, it is conceived as a single village for around 500 children. The interior is an integrated space with classrooms and recreational areas softly partitioned with furniture. Three 25-metre high preserved zelkova trees project up through the interior and roof decking for children to explore during break times. | The Fuji Kindergarten is quite the antidote to these sanitised designs: built in the shape of an oval with a perimeter of 183 metres, it is conceived as a single village for around 500 children. The interior is an integrated space with classrooms and recreational areas softly partitioned with furniture. Three 25-metre high preserved zelkova trees project up through the interior and roof decking for children to explore during break times. |
| To achieve such a holistic approach, designers must engage with children as well as adults, says Diarmaid Lawlor, director of place at conference partner Architecture and Design Scotland. | To achieve such a holistic approach, designers must engage with children as well as adults, says Diarmaid Lawlor, director of place at conference partner Architecture and Design Scotland. |
| “Designers often ask the wrong questions at the wrong time,” Lawlor says. “The question of space comes after the primary question of ‘what does learning look like for you?’ When you ask this question of carers and learners, you get a sense of their daily routine, and what spaces could accommodate that.” In making time to have these discussions, he adds, it’s also essential to keep in mind that people – not architects – are the experts in their own lives. | “Designers often ask the wrong questions at the wrong time,” Lawlor says. “The question of space comes after the primary question of ‘what does learning look like for you?’ When you ask this question of carers and learners, you get a sense of their daily routine, and what spaces could accommodate that.” In making time to have these discussions, he adds, it’s also essential to keep in mind that people – not architects – are the experts in their own lives. |
| According to Lawlor, the best-designed city for children would comprise three inter-locking elements: intergenerational spaces, life-long learning (linking early years education with the world of work), and putting special educational needs at the heart of learning, to create whole communities of learners. | According to Lawlor, the best-designed city for children would comprise three inter-locking elements: intergenerational spaces, life-long learning (linking early years education with the world of work), and putting special educational needs at the heart of learning, to create whole communities of learners. |
| The first idea is perhaps best captured in the work of Seattle’s Intergenerational Learning Center, where a preschool for under-fives is located in an elder care facility, which has an average age of 92. | The first idea is perhaps best captured in the work of Seattle’s Intergenerational Learning Center, where a preschool for under-fives is located in an elder care facility, which has an average age of 92. |
| Five days a week, the residents and more than 100 children come together for a variety of planned activities such as music, dancing, art, lunch, storytelling or just visiting. Most interestingly, the parents of the students have said they don’t send their children primarily for the experience with older people, but because they appreciate the quality of the learning that is fostered by this unusual environment. | Five days a week, the residents and more than 100 children come together for a variety of planned activities such as music, dancing, art, lunch, storytelling or just visiting. Most interestingly, the parents of the students have said they don’t send their children primarily for the experience with older people, but because they appreciate the quality of the learning that is fostered by this unusual environment. |
| When children get wet … they get changed. And they never melt. They are much stronger than an iPhone | When children get wet … they get changed. And they never melt. They are much stronger than an iPhone |
| Of course, numerous studies have shown that increased social interaction has a significant and positive effect – not only on loneliness and depression, but also delaying mental decline, lowering blood pressure, and reducing risk of disease in older people. But children who have early and sustained contact with their elders are also known to be less likely to exhibit ageism. | Of course, numerous studies have shown that increased social interaction has a significant and positive effect – not only on loneliness and depression, but also delaying mental decline, lowering blood pressure, and reducing risk of disease in older people. But children who have early and sustained contact with their elders are also known to be less likely to exhibit ageism. |
| In Birmingham – in a less dramatically intergenerational exercise – the Radical Childcare project is thinking how best to redesign the childcare system to fit both children and parents as the world of work changes quickly and dramatically. | In Birmingham – in a less dramatically intergenerational exercise – the Radical Childcare project is thinking how best to redesign the childcare system to fit both children and parents as the world of work changes quickly and dramatically. |
| One idea being fleshed out, “cooperative childcare”, is based around two guiding principles: to make the most of new technologies to connect supply and demand in more efficient ways, and use the skills and knowledge of communities to become “co-producers” of childcare, rather than parents remaining peripheral to planning. | One idea being fleshed out, “cooperative childcare”, is based around two guiding principles: to make the most of new technologies to connect supply and demand in more efficient ways, and use the skills and knowledge of communities to become “co-producers” of childcare, rather than parents remaining peripheral to planning. |
| Aside from these intergenerational experiments, there are other factors at play in designing ideal spaces for children. According to Tezuka, it’s important to ensure public and private spaces are designed in a way that respects children’s rights to play. But he warns this can be harder to design when the prevailing culture is so risk averse. | Aside from these intergenerational experiments, there are other factors at play in designing ideal spaces for children. According to Tezuka, it’s important to ensure public and private spaces are designed in a way that respects children’s rights to play. But he warns this can be harder to design when the prevailing culture is so risk averse. |
| “The situation is the same all over the world – but especially in Asian countries, like China, where many families have only one child,” Tezuka says. “They don’t like taking children to the mountains or rivers, and by restricting the movement of children, they don’t know how to take care of themselves in nature. But human beings are capable of adjusting to many different kinds of environment; they live in Dubai and Alaska. That is how we were supposed to be.” | “The situation is the same all over the world – but especially in Asian countries, like China, where many families have only one child,” Tezuka says. “They don’t like taking children to the mountains or rivers, and by restricting the movement of children, they don’t know how to take care of themselves in nature. But human beings are capable of adjusting to many different kinds of environment; they live in Dubai and Alaska. That is how we were supposed to be.” |
| Tezuka gives the example of his own 11-year-old son, who can dive underwater to catch fish. “These things used to be common, but then people started saying, ‘Oh it’s too dangerous.’ They warn that children can drown in water that’s only a metre deep – but they drown because they have never been trained.” | Tezuka gives the example of his own 11-year-old son, who can dive underwater to catch fish. “These things used to be common, but then people started saying, ‘Oh it’s too dangerous.’ They warn that children can drown in water that’s only a metre deep – but they drown because they have never been trained.” |
| Tezuka’s Fuji Kindergarten is certainly based around a different set of principles. First of all, there’s the famous roof – designed as an endless circuit but with obstructions, like those trees popping up through the roof-floor. “There are so many ways to explore, so they can make choices,” Tezuka explains. “It’s not a training facility, but an opportunity. Some children cover more than 4,000 metres before lunchtime; that is eight times more than in a normal kindergarten.” | Tezuka’s Fuji Kindergarten is certainly based around a different set of principles. First of all, there’s the famous roof – designed as an endless circuit but with obstructions, like those trees popping up through the roof-floor. “There are so many ways to explore, so they can make choices,” Tezuka explains. “It’s not a training facility, but an opportunity. Some children cover more than 4,000 metres before lunchtime; that is eight times more than in a normal kindergarten.” |
| The second element is the lack of boundary between outside and inside. “Of course in the cold weather between end of November and mid-March we close the windows, but most of the time the space is kept open. There was one specialist who visited us and asked: what happens if children get wet? I told him: in Japan, when children get wet, it’s quite simple, they get changed. And they never melt. They are much stronger than an iPhone!” | The second element is the lack of boundary between outside and inside. “Of course in the cold weather between end of November and mid-March we close the windows, but most of the time the space is kept open. There was one specialist who visited us and asked: what happens if children get wet? I told him: in Japan, when children get wet, it’s quite simple, they get changed. And they never melt. They are much stronger than an iPhone!” |
| Tezuka also makes a fascinating claim – which is yet to be fully researched – that the lack of physical boundaries leads to fewer psychological divisions between the children, and thus stamps out bullying. “When you make a boundary around a group, they make a hierarchy,” he says. “But when you take that away, there is no bullying, because there is no hiding place.” | Tezuka also makes a fascinating claim – which is yet to be fully researched – that the lack of physical boundaries leads to fewer psychological divisions between the children, and thus stamps out bullying. “When you make a boundary around a group, they make a hierarchy,” he says. “But when you take that away, there is no bullying, because there is no hiding place.” |
| Finally, the Fuji Kindergarten is deliberately noisy. Humans have an amazing capacity for noise cancellation, says Tezuka. “In school design, we are doing it to an extreme, trying to make very quiet environments, but we need noise to hear other people. In the jungle, silence is the sign that a predator is coming to eat you, so silence equals danger.” | Finally, the Fuji Kindergarten is deliberately noisy. Humans have an amazing capacity for noise cancellation, says Tezuka. “In school design, we are doing it to an extreme, trying to make very quiet environments, but we need noise to hear other people. In the jungle, silence is the sign that a predator is coming to eat you, so silence equals danger.” |
| Even so, Tezuka cautions against architects’ nostalgia “about a past that didn’t exist”. “The answer is already within your society,” he adds. “You just don’t know how to look at it.” | Even so, Tezuka cautions against architects’ nostalgia “about a past that didn’t exist”. “The answer is already within your society,” he adds. “You just don’t know how to look at it.” |
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