The oval-shaped roof deck of this playful Tokyo kindergarten allows children to play and run endless laps around it – a feature that has just won it the 2017 Moriyama RAIC International Prize.
Completed by Tezuka Architects 10 years ago, Fuji Kindergarten is located in the Tachikawa suburb of the city. It accommodates 600 children aged between two and six.
The school follows the Montessori Method, an educational approach where children are given freedom to range around the classroom and learn via discovery.
Rather than impose physical boundaries on the children, Tokyo-based architect Takaharu Tezuka designed the kindergarten as a continuous space that allows for unfettered learning and play.
He calls his concept the “nostalgic future”, where he looks at the way children would naturally choose to play without gadgets and screens, then facilitates it with future-forward designs.
The project has been awarded this year’s Moriyama RAIC International Prize, which recognises a work of architecture considered “transformative within its societal context”.

There is no play equipment installed, instead the architecture itself functions as a giant playground. Children are allowed to move about freely, fall down and get wet within a safe environment.
“Because the building is a ring they are looking at each other, Tezuka told Dezeen. “There is no sense of a middle. The children learn to be fair to everybody, they learn how to be a part of a nice group.”
The roof area doubles as a playground and a running track, giving the students an endless ring to chase each other around. The deck was built around the existing zelkova trees, with nets placed around the base to allow for easy climbing.
When the children first started interacting the building it was an emotional moment.
“It was simple, they just started running, said Tezuka. “It was beyond our expectations. I was sitting with the principal and everyone had tears. It was amazing, an instant reaction.”
Handrails around the edge act as a safety barrier and allow the inner courtyard to be turned into an arena. The railings are close enough together that children won’t get their heads stuck, but allow them to sit with their legs dangling through.
The roof height is only 2.1 metres tall, allowing a close connection between the levels. Children can scramble up a bank and climb a set of stairs to reach a slide from the deck back to the ground.

Skylights are built into the deck, letting natural light into the classrooms below and providing the children with a porthole to peek at their classmates through. Five gargoyles channel rainwater into water butts, creating impromptu waterfalls for students to play in during wet weather.
At ground level, sliding doors allow the classrooms to be open to the elements during good weather. Instead of dividing walls, the architects created child-sized boxes made from light wood with rounded edges that can be stacked to create shelves and display areas.

Tezuka believes standard classroom design is unnatural and counter productive to a positive learning environment. The free plan design encourages independence and collaboration, without forcing children to sit still and silent for long periods of time.
By leaving the classrooms open, the sound of 600 children creates the level of white noise found in natural environments. Tezuka got the idea when he met the composer and molecular biologist Tsutomu Ohashi while on holiday in Bali.
Listening back to a recording of an Indonesian music performance Ohashi invited him to, he realised the sound was obscured by the noise of the jungle he had been able to unconsciously filter whilst watching the show.
“Just as a fish cannot live in purified water, children cannot live in a clean, quiet and controlled environment,” he said.
Photography is by Katsuhisa Kida.
Tokyo kindergarten by Tezuka Architects lets children run free on the roof
Τι μπορεί να κάνει ένα σχολείο για να απασχολήσει δημιουργικά παιδιά νηπιαγωγείου, ηλικίας 5 και 6 ετών;
Η συνηθισμένη απάντηση θα ήταν να καταφέρει τους μικρούς μαθητές να καθίσουν φρόνιμα σε καρέκλες, να είναι οργανωμένοι, και να συγκρατούν τον ενθουσιασμό της ηλικίας τους.
Ωστόσο, κάποιοι εκπαιδευτικοί στο Τόκιο είχαν μια διαφορετική ιδέα.
Ο αρχιτέκτονας Takaharu Tezuka μίλησε στο TEDx Κιότο και εξήγησε πώς σχεδίασε ένα νηπιαγωγείο που δεν κόβει τα φυσικά ερεθίσματα των παιδιών. Αντίθετα, τα ενθαρρύνει να κάνουν ότι θέλουν, ακόμα και… βλακείες.
Σε αυτό το σχολείο που βρίσκεται στο Τόκιο, τα πεντάχρονα προκαλούν κυκλοφοριακή συμφόρηση και επιτρέπεται να αναρριχηθούν στα παράθυρα.


Η οροφή του κτιρίου είναι μια γιγαντιαία παιδική χαρά σε σχήμα δαχτυλιδιού. Γιατί; Γιατί τα παιδιά λατρεύουν να τρέχουν σε κύκλους. Η τάξη δεν έχει τοίχους.
Οι εκπαιδευτικοί ζήτησαν από τα παιδιά να χρησιμοποιούν ξύλινα κιβώτια για να δημιουργήσουν τους δικούς τους τοίχους, αλλά δεν πέτυχε. Ο σχεδιασμός έχει γίνει με βάση την ψυχολογία των παιδιών.




Τα παιδιά σε αυτή την ηλικία αγχώνονται όταν αισθάνονται κλεισμένα σε τοίχους ή σε περιορισμό. Αυτό δεν συμβαίνει εδώ. Και στο σχολείο αυτό δεν υπάρχουν κανόνες.

Η κύρια αρχή λειτουργίας του σχολείου είναι: «Αν το αγόρι στη γωνία δεν θέλει να μείνει στο δωμάτιο, θα τον αφήσουμε να φύγει. Και αυτό θα επανέλθει από μόνο του αργότερα, επειδή ο κύκλος επανέρχεται» λέει ο Takaharu Tezuka.
Κάποιοι γονείς νιώθουν ανασφάλεια, για την προστασία των παιδιών τους. Ωστόσο, ο Tezuka λέει ότι τα παιδιά πρέπει να χτυπήσουν. Αυτό τους κάνει να μάθουν να ζουν σ’ αυτόν τον κόσμο. Και προσθέτει ότι είναι καλό να υπάρχει μια «μικρή δόση του κινδύνου».

Δεν ξέρουμε αν όλα τα νηπιαγωγεία θα έπρεπε να είναι έτσι, αλλά αυτό το αναζωογονητικά δημιουργικό νηπιαγωγείο είναι τουλάχιστον μια υπενθύμιση ότι υπάρχουν ακόμα πολλά να μάθουμε για την εκπαίδευση των παιδιών, ειδικά σε αυτή τη θαυματουργή νεαρή ηλικία.
Tokyo kindergarten by Tezuka Architects lets children run free on the roof
I recently saw a documentary on this school by BBC.
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Good morning Sadje!! I believe is an excellent approach of education!
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A very good morning to you too. It is indeed.
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New ideas for our grandchilds lol!!!!!
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That’s right. Thanks
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It is very interesting. I have just watched a movie and I am wonder what parents can say about it. And of course, what children say.
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Just like plants need sunshine, time, and space to grow. Our children need and deserve the same thing!
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But I heard about Montessori type of education, so many different opinions, that I am really confused.
I should be happy that have adult children 🙂
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The Montessori Methodis based on a lifetime of study and observation with regard to the way children really learn. Traditional education is based on…well…tradition.
Ι prefer that type of education than ours here in Greece!!!
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When the friend, who has small child went to Monessori kindergarten , she told me later, that she never get her child to that place. She saw children doing……nothing, just standing without any smile and joy. But I think that everything depend on good teachers. They can create the best or the wordst place for children. Toys are always only in addition.
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The matter is the teachers …not the system …
https://livingmontessorinow.com/montessori-monday-montessori-inspired-kindergarten-readiness-activities/
Kisses Beata thank you for your comment!!!!
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Ενδιαφέρον είναι! Γειά σου Έφη μου!
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Kαλησπέρα Βεατρίκη μου !! Που έχεις χαθεί εσύ???
Ναι και μένα μου φάνηκε όμορφη αυτή η ιδέα!!! Απλά αναρωτήθηκα τι κάνουν τα παιδιά στα μεγάλα κρύα!!
Ένας φίλος μου που έχει παιδικό σταθμό στη Θεσσαλονίκη (στεγασμένο) μου είπε ότι και το χειμώνα φοράνε γαλότσες στα παιδάκια και πανωφόρια αδιάβροχα και τα αφήνουν να παίζουν έξω στον κήπο παρόλο το κρύο!!!
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Εφη μου , καλημέρα! Να σου πω από το τέλος. Καλά κάνουν και αφήνουν τα παιδιά να παίζουν έξω παρά το κρύο, αυτή είναι η γνώμη μου!Και , για πολλούς λόγους, ειναι καλό και χρήσιμο.
Τώρα, για το που χάθηκα…Έμπλεξα με την δουλειά από την μια , με τους γιατρούς από την άλλη. Οψόμεθα..
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Καλημέρα Βεατρίκη μου!!
Eύχομαι να είναι όλα γρήγορα περαστικά!!!!
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am in love with this post. great one dearie
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Μy pleasure Tony!!!
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