Architecture for Children: HIBINOSEKKEI + Youji no Shiro on Contemporary Kindergartens

HIBINOSEKKEI + Youji no Shiro is a Japanese architecture firm based in Iiyama, Atsugi, in the Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. With an archive of over 350 projects, the firm specializes in designing and building infrastructures for childhood environments, including day cares, nurseries, and kindergartens. Taku Hibino from HIBINOSEKKEI + Youji no Shiro talked with Architizer about the firm’s work and methods for achieving innovative standards for modern pedagogical activities.

SM Nursery, Tokyo, 2015

Architizer: What made you want to focus your architecture practice on kindergartens, nurseries and day cares?

Taku Hibino: Designing kindergartens and nurseries is very difficult, but also very interesting. Because we know that early childhood environment is very important for character growth, we focus our expertise in this area to provide more professional design for this important part of children’s lives.

D1 Kindergarten and Nursery, Kumamoto, 2015

What are the most important components of making architecture for children?

Kindergartens and nurseries are places dedicated to education, not simply a playground. Through the design, we want to inspire children to study and gain knowledge from their environment, stimulate their creativity and increase their physical and moral strength. The best design is one that encourages children to grow and mature.

OB Kindergarten+Nursery, Nagasaki Prefecture, 2015 (A+Awards Finalist)

Do you work with pedagogical specialists, the teachers, the parents or the children to come up with new designs?

You can’t do design simply based on one’s own likes and dislikes. The beginning of the design is sometimes based on scientific data, for which we work with researchers. Throughout the process of designing our projects, we exchange ideas with kindergarten teachers. We also do workshops with children and parents to communicate and think together.

AM Kindergarten and Nursery, Kagoshima Prefecture, 2015

A lot of your photographs of the projects show the spaces being used. Do you continue to visit your projects to see how the children appropriate the space in unique ways?

After finishing a project, I often go back to see the condition of the used space. Sometimes, the facilities are used the way we thought they would be, but other times, the children’s creativity guides new ways to use facilities. The resulting uses go beyond what we imagine ourselves, which is a nice surprise. I collect this information and data as reference for the next design.

Hanazono Kindergarten and Nursery, Okinawa Prefecture, 2015 (A+Awards Finalist)

What is the context of educational infrastructure in Japan? Is it an investment that the public and clients are willing to experiment with?

In fact, it is very difficult to attract investment in Japan’s kindergartens and nursery schools. However, most of the people who are working in areas like us — designing and running spaces for young children — understand the importance of education and pursue their professions with a real passion.

Interview edited for clarity