Kinder-topia

Today we (all the employees and I) left the house bright and early for a kindergarten school on the edge of Sapporo that we were giving a workshop at. The school called Myonnoka, although I'm sure that spelling is wrong, is right at the edge of the forest on a high hill that offers a beautiful view of the City. The school's mission is to immerse children into the natural environment and teach them about living closer with nature. They have kindergarden classes during the day, and offer after school and weekend programs for older children. They have also started offering art and activity classes for parents and adults. The school was almost solely designed by Takano Landscape Planning, even the buildings and interiors and programming were chiefly designed by the firm. The design process taken was described to me by Takano as ecological democracy, so that all people, plants and animals have equal rights, and everyone's needs are balanced. By involving all the people who are going to share the space as much as possible, not only will a more successful place result, but a respectful environment, where children, parents, teachers, plants, and animals are treated equally, working together to create a sustainable space for all parties. The school is centered around a large-ish round pony pen. They have 7 ponies that the kids ride and take on treks through the woods and fields. They also have their own ski slope that all the kindergarden kids learn to downhill ski on. All the buildings were designed to focus on one ecozone. The main office building is built into the natural hill and on top they have a large vegetable garden and bee hives that the kids plant and harvest. On the natural cliff that extends from the building, is a rock climbing wall disguised into the stone. Another main building focuses on the pond ecosystem and extends from the top of a hill to sit over part of the pond on stilts, with a deck in the front. The third main building allows children to study the air, and is a large greenhouse, that is kept sodded in the winter to use as playing field and storage space for the school bus, and transforms into a swimming pool in the summer. The Main building is a large converted barn with a very large open room for all the classes to gather, a secret loft with ladder for kids to play in, and class rooms with views to the mountains. The buildings are not connected, instead teachers thought it was important that kids should be aware of their outside environment, and so a slightly raised boardwalk connects the main buildings, so they can keep their slippers on. They have treeforts in the forest and mini hot springs in the hill, and even a tipi that they use for campfires. 

We were here however, to help them build a large snow fort that would serve as a winter classroom. When we arrived they had already piled a 10 by 10 meters, and probably 2 meter high snow mound for us to start shaping. A student from the landscape architecture department of the University of Hokkaido was also there to help (Kaz) who was very friendly and spoke english very well, so well he could even ask us if we liked karaoke, and after hearing my positive answer invited us to come out on Friday. Anyways . . .  after giving my presentation to the kids about the Canadian arctic culture and igloos, we began construction. Takano was the chief visionary for the project and decided where the three main doorways would be as well stairs and a large snow slide. The kids were really cute, and very useful at hollowing out the hill because they could fit into the little tunnels. It is Takano's ongoing joke that when ever there is a task to be done up high, the tall Canadian should do it! Even when there were men who were just as tall as I was, I think he enjoyed calling on me when he couldn't reach, "We need a tall Canadian over here!" after which he would laugh jovially and adjust his furry earmuffs. The mound was hollowed, complete with tunnels and secret passageways, the stairs were carved, and everything was decorated with snowballs, and snow sculptures. All the kids had constructed their own flags and they all ceremonially placed them on the roof of the fort. After the principal and teachers gave permission, the kids were set loose on the fort and went wild. Some were jumping off the roof, others had found candles that they were using as torches, and they were all generally having a great time with their new jungle gym. When it hit 6, parents finally got impatient and started collecting their kids who in some cases buried their feet in snow so they didn't have to leave. After most had left he told me that "these are the times that give landscape architects the most pleasure, when you create a space that is loved."