The best kindergarten you’ve ever seen
This is a kindergarten
we designed in 2007. We made this kindergarten
to be a circle. It's a kind of endless circulation
on top of the roof. If you are a parent, you know that kids love
to keep making circles. This is how the rooftop looks. And why did we design this? The principal of this kindergarten said, "No, I don't want a handrail." I said, "It's impossible." But he insisted: "How about having a net
sticking out from the edge of the roof? So that it can catch
the children falling off?" (Laughter) I said, "It's impossible." And of course,
the government official said, "Of course you have to have a handrail." But we could keep
that idea around the trees. There are three trees popping through. And we were allowed to call
this rope as a handrail. But of course, rope is another
thing to do with them. They fall into the net. And you get more, and more, more. (Laughter) Sometimes 40 children
are around a tree. The boy on the branch, he loves the tree
so he is eating the tree. (Laughter) And at the time of an event, they sit on the edge. It looks so nice from underneath. Monkeys in the zoo. (Laughter) Feeding time. (Laughter)
(Applause) And we made the roof as low as possible, because we wanted to see
children on top of the roof, not only underneath the roof. And if the roof is too high,
you see only the ceiling. And the leg washing place —
there are many kinds of water taps. You see with the flexible tubes, you want to spray water
to your friends, and the shower, and the one in front is quite normal. But if you look at this, the boy is not washing his boots, he's putting water into his boots. (Laughter) This kindergarten is completely
open, most of the year. And there is no boundary
between inside and outside. So it means basically
this architecture is a roof. And also there is no boundary
between classrooms. So there is no acoustic barrier at all. When you put many children in a quiet box, some of them get really nervous. But in this kindergarten, there is no reason they get nervous. Because there is no boundary. And the principal says if the boy in the corner
doesn't want to stay in the room, we let him go. He will come back eventually,
because it's a circle, it comes back. (Laughter) But the point is,
in that kind of occasion, usually children try to hide somewhere. But here, just they leave and come back. It's a natural process. And secondly, we consider
noise very important. You know that children
sleep better in noise. They don't sleep in a quiet space. And in this kindergarten, these children show
amazing concentration in class. And you know, our kind grew up
in the jungle with noise. They need noise. And you know, you can talk
to your friends in a noisy bar. You are not supposed to be in silence. And you know, these days we are trying to make
everything under control. You know, it's completely open. And you should know that we can go skiing in -20 degrees in winter. In summer you go swimming. The sand is 50 degrees. And also, you should know
that you are waterproof. You never melt in rain. So, children are supposed to be outside. So that is how we should treat them. This is how they divide classrooms. They are supposed to help teachers. They don't. (Laughter) I didn't put him in. A classroom. And a washbasin. They talk to each other around the well. And there are always
some trees in the classroom. A monkey trying to fish
another monkey from above. (Laughter) Monkeys. (Laughter) And each classroom has
at least one skylight.