There are three big key words on the gable wall in the kindergarten, which are “independent”, “brave” and “free”. These words are so familiar to us but are so unfamiliar at the same time, which make people lost in deep thought. In our childhood memory, the collectivism, safety protection and compliance with rules, these “correct” instructions have been along with a generation’s childhood, but in a way, they also limit the growth of creativity. Therefore, this transformation has a hidden purpose, which is to wake up the children’s nature that is buried in the subconscious, to discover themselves, to have the spirit of adventure and to be unfettered. The turnaround of children education in the 21st century is told quietly in this space.
In the autumn of 2019, ZAN Studio, which is good at inserting infinite originality into the renewal of cities and villages, has finished a renewal practice quietly. They changed an abandoned tea house and a courtyard in Yiwu into a brand new early childhood facility, which can satisfy the children’s use from zero to 6 years old, and make up the lack of learning facilities for children in urban area. It is a difficult working process. The low cost, the narrow space, the closed area, the lack of supporting facilities and those existing shortages all imply that it is a great challenge to make this project into a work which has typical demonstration significance. ZAN Studio didn’t choose a simple and economical implementation strategy conservatively but use an innovative way to finish the task. Only in this way, we could see this interesting space now.
▼激发原本埋藏在孩童们潜意识里的天性：自我发现、冒险精神、无拘无束，wake up the children’s nature that is buried in the subconscious, to discover themselves, to have the spirit of adventure and to be unfettered ©日野摄影
