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Far removed from the standardized post-World War II white concrete boxes that dot the country, these schools represent an innovative direction the Japanese educational system could take. Takaharu and Yui Tezuka, Kengo Kuma and Ben Nakamura, the acclaimed architects behind the designs, are committed to creating educational environments to cultivate and inspire the next generation.
Nanasawa Kibounooka
Ben Nakamura is committed to the use of nature and renewable sources of energy in his designs. His office prominently displays various high-tech solar panels and dozens of raw and polished wood samples. Nakamura has been designing schools since the 1970s, including Katoh Gakuen, Japan's first open-plan school, and St. Mary's International School, both of which are in Tokyo. "Fundamentally, education for children must inspire curiosity, a sense of discovery, fascination, creativity and emotion — it should be able to give many answers to the same question," he says. "Teachers can use various teaching materials, tell stories and teach the children directly whereas architects can answer children's questions through their environment." Completed in 2008, Nanasawa Kibounooka Elementary School, located in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, stands like a large lodge in the middle of a forest. It has floor-to-ceiling windows that let in natural light filtered by the trees outdoors. Ninety percent of the construction materials and 60 percent of the interior fixtures are made of wood. The school’s energy sources include rainwater, biomass recycling and geothermal heating, minimizing the school’s carbon footprint. The design of Nanasawa clearly reflects the school's pedagogy. Employing the Reggio Emilia approach in which students of various ages study together, the curriculum is self-guided, and the learning is individualistic — children move on their own to different activity and lesson islands to grow their strengths. At t e school, students engage in a comprehensive education with peers counter to the more results-oriented and, in the case of Japan, teacher-centered practices of today. Nakamura believes that placed in a more natural setting, people can relax and be more focused and productive. "Nature is alive and deep, unlike many of today's concrete schools," he says. "Nature represents seeds of wonder — the best source of wonder. There is an interaction with nature that gives off energy. Exposure to the raw and gasa-gasa (ragged) touch of timber and not the shiny and polished man-made version of wood is necessary." In addition, the architect makes sure all spaces — from the stairs to the corridors and locker areas — are maximized in his schools. The overall wavelike angled plan of the building follows the path of the trees in the forest — walking through it feels like taking a stroll through the woods. "In the school, there are no purely rectangular shapes like in a home because they would create straight lines that do not occur in nature," Nakamura says. Thus the roof was constructed to feel like it was light and floating in order to blend with — not overpower — the surroundings. "It is most important to understand one's individuality, to develop into a creative person and to understand one's unique strengths," the architect says. "That is what I think of as one's ikiruchikara — the power with which to live. This is how I wanted to create Nanasawa." Although these schools are private, many new schools being constructed in Japan are being encouraged to feature open-plan interiors. Since choosing schools is becoming increasingly possible, there's a good chance many children will be able to attend schools of this type in the future. However, with 90 percent of all school design defaults to the standardized white concrete box, the work of the Tezukas, Kuma and Nakamura are beacons of hope integral to national efforts to cultivate Japan's next generation. Their numerous education projects in the rebuilding of the Tohoku area are sure to attract national attention and could become models for future schools throughout the country.