Courtyard concept connects kids with nature

Shanghai designer puts a modern twist on traditional Chinese architecture to create an enhanced sense of community

One kindergarten in Shanghai's suburban Jiading district stands out from most others, as its structure represents a huge honeycomb, with dozens of hexagonal classrooms linked by small outdoor play areas.

The main design concept of East China Normal University's Affiliated Bilingual Kindergarten is to introduce courtyards - an important element of traditional Chinese architecture - to children's lives in a modern city.

"Traditionally, a courtyard is where people communicate and air their emotions. It helps to maintain cohesion within a family and strengthens relationships between relatives and friends," said Zhu Xiaofeng, who designed the kindergarten, which opened in fall 2015.

The design helps to keep children connected with nature at an age when, generally speaking, they are often overprotected, he said.

"When I look back on my time at kindergarten in the 1970s, my favorite part was spending time outside in the yard, playing with crickets, earthworms and plants," said Zhu, who is the design principal of the Scenic Architecture Office in Shanghai, which was established in 2004.

While designing the kindergarten, he realized that by attaching two hexagonal classrooms, he could create an outdoor play area shared by the two classrooms.

"The big playground can be used by the kindergarten's more than 200 children for collective sports or other activities, but the small ones just outside their classrooms provide them with a greater sense of community," said the architect, who was born in Shanghai in 1972.

Each courtyard is just 140 square meters, but that is big enough for children, he said, adding that the private play areas on each floor mean children do not have to go down to the first floor for outdoor activities.

All south-facing rooms are used as classrooms and the north-facing ones are used as functional rooms, for music and dance classes, or as offices.

The concept of hexagonal units allows the classrooms to be exposed to as many hours of natural light as possible, with children spending a lot of time by the windows, reading, painting and tending to their plants.

Teachers said they feel the classrooms give the children a sense of community, which the designer said is closely related to its shape.

"The more sides a shape has, the closer it becomes to representing a circle, and people will naturally feel a centripetal force," said Zhu, who worked in New York as an architect for five years after obtaining a master's degree in architecture at Harvard University.

The kindergarten's corridors are also unusual, as they are open-air pathways with overhead covers.

"In most kindergartens, the corridors are indoors, which means the children are isolated from the natural world. But I want them to feel the heat in summer and the cold in winter when they leave their classrooms," he said.

Xi Fangming, a 26-year-old teacher at the kindergarten, said, "The children love the design of the kindergarten and the teachers refer to it as 'paradise on Earth'."

Zhu said his son was attending kindergarten when he drew up the draft for the project in 2013. He said the kindergarten had excellent teachers, but the space was limited and there was not enough natural light in the classrooms and corridors.

"I want to make a difference, and I believe children should spend more time exploring their natural surroundings by themselves, as long as they are in a safe environment," he added.

zhouwenting@chinadaily.com.cn