Description

Across Europe and the USA there is an on-going period of transition for many educational systems and the environments which support them. Experimental structures are built to deal with a changing educational emphasis, not always with complete success. Generally the architecture must follow the experiments within education rather than it happening the other way around, education following architecture. In some early years systems, such as in the UK for example, there is little recent tradition of state-funded preschool provision upon which to draw for inspiration and guidance. It is not surprising therefore that we all try to draw on the best experience from long standing successful systems which appear to synthesise an educational/care vision with a strong and coherent environmental strategy. One of the most frequently cited examples of such a system is the world renowned City of Reggio Emilia Child Care Service, better known simply as ‘Reggio’.

To provide some background to this exemplary system, represented here by its latest projects designed by ZPZ Partners, we need to go back to 1969 and the creation of the Scuola Materna Statale, the Italian system of universal early years care for those who want it. Since then, attendance has risen steadily to the point where 95% of the children in Reggio Emilia aged 3-5 attend full-time, sometimes six days per week. Although quality varies from region to region, childcare attracts a large number of votes and is therefore viewed as an important political expedient. The constitution to protect young children has been national law in Italy since 1973. However, its general principles are more precisely defined by the regional administrators and the system is regularly updated. One particularly important aspect of the ‘child’s constitution’ is the requirement that all new facilities are developed by a multi-disciplinary group comprising local councillors, architects and pedagogic experts. Modena distinguishes its child friendly planning strategies by making them friendly for both boys and girls. The view that the city is a male-orientated space, predominantly given over to the convenience of the car, is at the heart of this philosophy. A multi-disciplinary commission – involving teachers, architects, engineers, solicitors, social workers, psychologists and police representatives – has been established to influence the layout of the city and send reminders to adults of the desire for a child-orientated culture. One of these projects, for example, introduced street signs which could be read and understood by young children.

This initiative begins in Modena’s kindergartens, which extend their activities into the community to become a focus for that community. Parents are given responsibility and encouraged to organise events within the kindergarten building at the weekends, even engaging those who do not have young children themselves. Parent classes and pre-natal groups meet in the kindergarten rather than in the hospital or at home, so that insecure parents are supported discreetly during this life changing event. It is recognised that whereas mothers and grandparents might have provided support, knowledge and reassurance in former times, there is now a knowledge gap which is increasingly being addressed through childcare services. Thus a central square is placed at the heart of each childcare centre. This terminology is a deliberate reminder of the urban spaces in Italian cities whose primary benefit is to encourage social interaction. So the central enclosed space is analogous to the public meeting place; here parents, teachers and children make contact with each other, thus fulfilling one of the primary functions of kindergarten life. Within the centres there is a particular emphasis on this idea of relations, and how they shape the future citizen. It is a concept which is central to the educational philosophy and is based on the development of a long standing child centred philosophy, where the environment is conceived as a complex hybrid, constructed not by selecting and simplifying the elements, but through a fusion of distinct poles (inside and outside, formality and flexibility, material and immaterial), which creates rich and complex conditions.

In the San Felice project, although externally the building appears simple, with a big green flat roof which oversails the orange masonry walls below, within the building you find a rich and vibrant atmosphere which supports activities but never restricts them. The ‘homebase’ areas are clearly delineated for the age-related groupings for children ranging from 1 year olds to 6 year olds. There is a respect for the individual age ranges with each containing its own range of activity corners, a physical climbing area, a soft corner, an art/wet area and a general play and activity zone. Within this there is also a bright and spacious children’s toilet room. The double-height spaces each have their own staircase up to the mezzanine sleeping area on the upper level. It has the feel of a self-contained family apartment, social but small enough to feel cozy and safe for the youngest children. However, the relations children develop are intended to be wider than this small family group. So the central square, which in this example is a more elongated shape, provides the venue for a range of communal activities where older and younger children can mix together. For example, there is a central dining area with an attached kitchen where good food is prepared but which is also visible to young children through windows from the square. The important social role eating has within Italian society is continually underlined, with children joining their older and younger friends around the dining table. There is very little eating which takes place within the homebase areas. Similarly there is a music room and an art room, suitable for older children but open and visible to others, so that art and creativity are at the centre of school life. And finally there is ready access to the outside play throughout the building, emphasising this notion of inside/outside polarities.

The inner activity areas are discrete but always visible from other communal areas. The illusion of privacy within an open environment is a balance achieved by the subtle definition of different areas and different spaces. Slightly dropped or raised ceiling planes with oval or rectangular cutout rooflights make the ceiling planes as interesting as the floor planes. There is a sense of freedom of movement between the different areas of the building, yet at the same time children are made aware of what is and what is not their own territory.

All of the Reggio projects are experiments in creating children’s spaces which incorporate the pedagogic system in a precise way and its reflection as aesthetically harmonious interior architecture. This is achieved within the context of a clear form treating the architecture as background to the children and their activities. It is spacious, elegant and decorated in a restrained manner so that architectural simplicity is never overwhelmed by the artwork or the activities that take place within. It is a fascinating environment for children providing a balance between social and private spaces in a coherent architectural style.

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Originally published in: Mark Dudek, Schools and Kindergartens: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2015.