Reggio Emilia's exhibition: The wonder of learning

 
The Wonder of Learning is an exhibition which began in 2008 (before was The Hundred Languages of Children exhibition), which travels around the world recounting the research and experiences of the Reggio Emilia Approach to early childhood education and promoting a discussion and mutual exchange on the importance of quality early learning.



Sections of the exhibition:



Dialogues with places 

Here, children explored the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre whilst construction was still underway choosing spaces that were interesting to them. They then designed a work of art that represented a dialogue with that particular space - respecting its identity whilst also modifying it.

Thus, the process initiated empathy with place and giving way to a personal interpretation of a space and creating new understandings of children's perceptions of their spatial environments.




Notes for a choreography - Among the many movements children use to explore space, running is the one they use most. It is through running where they perceptions are tuned strongly to the space, and giving them a sense of freedom and power. The space provides a sequence of forms and movements - a choreographical composition.



If columns were... - here two groups of children aged 4-6 recognised the opportunity for a number of a columns in a space to have their own unique identities and appearances, using different forms and materials to give each column its own specific nature.



The stairway's voice - One groups most vivid experience of a space was the sounds produced on a stairway by rhythmical steps, repeated jumps, running and voices. Here they used sound narratives, discussion and drawn interpretations, learning to distinguish between different sounds, and creating new variations, new compositions...



Shadow stories - In this project the children pick out the shadow of a window and investigate the movement of the shadow where it is reworked into the story of a life - expectancy, birth, growth, decline and passing away - of day.

Dialogues with material 

This exhibition takes aspects of a project that explored the relationship between the "languages" of children's creative expression and the language of the renowned 19th century artist Alberto Burri. Features of Burri's work including the chromatic quality of this materials, ideas of variation and alteration, the compositional rigour were explored with the children, with particular attention given to the creative process.



Black is made of all colours - Here children are encouraged to see the world in way that has not yet been locked into rigid categories of thinking. Crumpling, folding, rolling, tearing and transforming, they test the reversible and conservable qualities of their materials.



White, white and white - Here each child manipulates a white paper napkin which reveal a myriad of properties when explored - white, lightweight, airy and delicate, slightly textured, opaque when place in layers, but almost transparent when opened out. Each are then placed close together, revealing one large final composition, which carries the traces and identities of each and every 'author'.



Painting, between material and nature - Here natural materials reveal quantity, qualities, density and variations in colour and hue. The materials are then transformed using hands, sieves and rocks to crumble, crush, sift and powder - capturing the material's essence, colour and perfume. These natural 'paints' are then used by the children to create compositions.



Sound systems - Here 4 year old children, teachers and a music teacher build a sound sculpture using natural materials.

The enchantment of writing 

Here the children carry out research on the alphabetical code.




Between signs and writing - Varying contexts and strategies were investigated in relation to communicative symbol systems.



Figurative writing - Here children elaborate their written communication - reflecting on the graphic nature of the symbols, the size of the letters and words, the chromatic and tactile choice of the paper on which to write the words and the accompanying graphics and decorations.

Ray of light 

The children encounter light - Using the initial springboards of learning - wonder and curiosity. The environments can enhance this wonder making 'spectacular' and engaging experiences.



Meetings between parallel worlds - Playing with shapes and shadows with overhead projectors.



Path of light - Five-year old children make a light-catching machine. They have to confront a number of problems such as how to orient the reflected ray of light. The children build a road of light to illuminate some of the indoor and outdoor spaces of the school.



From enchanted garden of reflections to tower of light - Exploring materials that create colourful reflections, transparencies, luminous rebounds and ever-changing reverberations - the group of children construct a 'tower of light' - a sculpture on wheels that can be moved to seek out the light and built in three parts to be stacked and interchanged to create different reflections.



Tournesol, the turning sun - The architecture is designed to enable significant dialogues between inside and outside, creating dynamic contexts where light becomes the protagonist - giving new life to the spaces so that they are constantly changing in relation to the intensity of the light, the time of day, and the season. Thus the 'places' create narratives to interpreted freely.



Echoes of light - A curtain of mirrors at the window of the classroom creates changeable everyday reverberations, they bounce around, animating the pleasure of discovery.

Light is "weightless matter", almost liquid, capable of expanding and retracting, of being captured and studied and, just for a moment, illusively, stopped.

The pulsating life

A research project on the themes and languages of the natural sciences, based on a collaboration between Reggio Children, the Lemshaga Akademi, the University of Stockholm and the Reggio Emilia Institutet in Sweden, which followed a group of children from the last year of preschool through the first year of primary school (from 5 to 7 years old).

Concepts of transformation, transversality, and the possible connections in the contexts of life guide this project, developing children’s empathy with nature.

Via The Wonder of Learning.

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Pretty Prefab Playhouses

In a world that is getting more and more fast-paced and technological, it is more important than ever that children have a space to call their own, to take time out in, to play in, a space that is safe, secure and scaled to them. That is why it is great to see designers taking the time to design playhouses that enables this.



Here are some well-creafted and ' designer' examples of 'modern', simple and contemporary miniature 'play' houses that are available for young children today.

All of which are pretty pricey, at around $1,000-$1,500 suggesting that demand isn't high enough for mass manufacturing.

Common features of the playhouses below is the 'eco'- friendly wood used, the ability to be easily constructed at home with prefabricated parts, and containing built in easels, blackboards and furniture enabling children's interaction and play...



Designed by California-based Modern Cabana this is one sophisticated playhouse! Including built in furniture, a roll of paper for art, blackboards and can even come with a green roof and deck! I also like the green door that can be opened in three parts.

Via Inhabitots and Modern Cabana.



A more simple design by San Francisco-based Modern Playhouse, this playhouse uses one (natural sustainable wood) material with shapes cut out of each panel. Again, the house can be furnished with custom made built in (and matching) furniture components.

Via CalFinder Blog and Modern Playhouse.



This playhouse by True Modern who designs 'child-friendly' furniture also features paper holders for art and a clean, simple, contemporary and 'eco-friendly' aesthetic.

Via Dwell and True Modern.



This indoor playhouse called Kyoto and inspired by Japanese avant-garde architecture by Smart Playhouse looks visually appealing, but does little more than than look, well...nice.

Via Modern Kiddo and Smart Playhouse.



The Villa Julia designed by Javier Mariscal for Magis was part of the Me Too collection - designed products for kids. This playhouse has the advantage of being not only cheaper, being made from cardboard, but it is also recyclable! It also comes with stickers for the children to personalize.

Via Dezeen. 

And for a smart-looking local New Zealand example:



Architect Robin Hannah created the phoyo playhouse originally for her three young children - "I began planning a series of panels that would interlink with one another to form an enclosed space to suit young children".

You can see the ease at which the panels - walls & roof can be quickly and easily arranged and constructed making for a fun and memorable experience for both children and adults.

Via phoyo and InsideOut.

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A visually interesting fit-out for a day-care centre in New York that aids children's development

     
St Clare's Parish Early Childhood Development Centre interior fit-out designed by Studio 16 Architecture PLLC constructed in 2001

This renovation design for a child-care centre within an existing Parish centre was inspired by young childrens' developmental needs for play.



Vertical elements were inserted, whereby "all surfaces are activated", designed to engage and facilitate function and use - storage, shelving, display as well as interactive and interpretive surfaces to encourage interaction with the environment.



The design also encompasses two horizon lines: one at 7-15cm's for the young children and one at normal head height for the adults.



There are two types of space: the secular and the transcendant/abstract. The secular is defined by the warm colours embedded in the floor design (from red to yellow), which denotes bodily and tactile sensory experience, whilst the curving lobby wall and the fragmented art room establish a free-play sensory experience heightening the phsyical (haptic) experience of space. The second type of space, the transcendant/abstract are the classrooms and are more cerebral and suitable for more structured activities of learning.



Colours from red to purple depict the Catholic teaching: "God promised the children a rainbow". At innumerable moments the inter-play of colour and form fuse.



Via Architzer.

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Changing Education Paradigms

This fantastic animate was adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert.


See previous post for more information, or visit Ken's website.

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An open competition which invites proposals for relocatable classrooms of the future

The Melbourne School of Design (MSD) Incubator is an initiative for architects, designers, planners and students to come up with ideas for how to design innovative and inspiring future environments for learning.


The competition offers a chance for architects and designers to transform (and improve) relocatable classroom environments, to influence future government policies on the design and delivery of relocatable classrooms, and could even be developed, and manufactured as a prototype.

Oh, and the chance to win up to $60,000. Not bad.

Timeline:

Registration closes on the 19th September and entries must be in by the 31st October with winners being announced on the 28th November.

Available Resources:








Resources available include the brief, a resource on 21st Century Learning, Sustainable School Environments, Landscape Integrations and Connections and Prefabrication.

Check out their blog too for more info and inspiration.

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Die Baupiloten have done it again with this reconstructive design for an elementary school

   


The Carl Bolle Elementary School in Berlin - designed by Die Baupiloten and completed in 2008 uses hidden corners, built-in hiding spaces and the notion of mysteries and spies as guiding design principles. As is integral to die Baupiloten's design approach, they collaborated with the buildings users: children, to develop the project, which includes many imaginary worlds such as the 'summer labyrinth', a 'climbing forest', a 'secret garden of leisure' and a 'snow world' - encouraging childrens' imagination and interaction.







Design Concept: 
Based on a children's spy story, spaces were designed to promote communication, movement and investigation. Enhanced possibilities for interaction with the environment allow the children to explore scientific phenomena in a playful environment.





The Entrance gallery


The Twinkling Gate


Sensitive Listening



Wall of Disguises 

 

Spy Wall

 

 Reading Benches



Participation:

The children participated in a model building workshop developing imaginary worlds of activity and communication. These worlds expressed the children's desires for both active play spaces and areas of retreat and relaxation from the hustle and bustle of the school day. The spy story, developed with the children provided a conceptual foundation for the design and incorporates the children's diverse visions into a unified whole.

Architecture and Education:



The multifaceted spatial design stimulates children's perception and promoting self-initiative, orientation, communication, social interaction, physical experience and aesthetic sensibility. The varying spaces allow the children to employ and explore through all their senses.



Via DesignBoom and Die Baupiloten.

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Cocoon: A radical new design for an emergent learning network of skyscrapers

 
This design for a new educational system was a finalist in the 2011 Skyscraper Competition and was designed by Ben Danks, Mark Ferguson, Adam Blaney and Aaron Jones in the UK.



The design proposes a new teaching revolution through architecture, which highlights the inadequacies of the old-fashioned traditional teaching model which has failed to keep up with massive changes to modern lifestyles. The emergence of the digital world has led to a cultural reform, allowing access to types and quantities of information that were previously unattainable. Currently schools fail to harness these immense resources, restricting their teaching to the educator, textbook model.



The emergent learning network ustilises a system of self-organised education, based on the theories of Sugata Mitra, Sir Ken Robinson (see previous post) and Konrad Waschsmann, where there are no teachers or traditional classrooms. The pupils are instead part of constantly changing groups of four or five and are set tasks of research using available resources.


Coccon consists of a network of towers housing clusters of S.O.L.E.'s (Self Organised Learning Environments) in the city's derelict industrial spine. The S.O.L.E.'s will be mass manufactured in the empty dockyard and floated up the river to the site. A transparent skin allows sunlight to penetrate, whist giving views of the ecology below. Each S.O.L.E can be persoanalised with the interactive walls, and each is connected to larger social pods.


This highly radical idea is in reaction to the failings of education today, and depicts the need for collaboration and interconnectedness. Whilst I can't help feel the design makes children look to be like working ants and perhaps doesn't focus on the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of children, it is an interesting way to think how education can benefit society more than it currently does.

Via eVolo.

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21st century learning

A new movement in America called 21st century skills, started by the Partnershp for 21st Century Skills,is about raising an awareness into the critical need for education to teach and equip our young people with skills needed in this day and age.



Skills such as: critical thinking, technological, innovation, cross-disciplinary, problem-solving, communication and collaboration... for a world that is becoming increasingly interconnected and complex.

The Partnership has devised a framework, or more, a vision for 21st century learning:


Core subjects and 21st century themes:
Core subjects include English, reading or language arts, world languages, arts, mathematics, economics, science, geography, history, government and civics.
21st century interdisciplinary themes include global awareness, financial, economic, business and entrepreneurial literacy, civic literacy and environmental literacy.

Learning and innovation skills:
Creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, communication and collaboration.

Information, media and technology skills:
Today, we live in a technology and media-driven environment, marked by access to an abundance of information, rapid changes in technology tools and the ability to collaborate and make individual contributions on an unprecedented scale. Effective citizens and workers must be able to exhibit a range of functional and critical thining skills, such as:information literacy, media literacy and ICT (information, communications and technology) literacy.

Life and career skills:
Today's life and work environments require far more thinking skills and content knowledge. The ability to navigate the complex life and work environments in the globally competitive information age requires students to pay rigorous attention to developing adequate life and career skills, such as: flexibility and adaptability, initiative and self-direction, social and cross-cultural skills, productivity and accountability, leadership and responsibility.

The P21 website provides tools and resources like this video here called Above and Beyond:



This video illustrates some of P21's key ideas of what is possible when communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity is utilised in school and how it can transform learning opportunities for children at school.

For more information see the book by James Bellanca and Ron Brandt: 21st century skills: Rethinking How Students Learn.

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