


Leandri Barnard
Rewild the Child
Reimagining conventional school design in Johannesburg to reconnect children to nature through architecture


According to recent studies, children today excel at recognising artificial Pokémon characters but cannot identify real creatures and species in their natural environment. The research found that children have enormous potential for learning about the environment and its creatures, but they are “more inspired by synthetic subjects”. Studies indicated a direct correlation between increased attention-deficit disorder, obesity, mental health problems, diminished social skills in children, and decreased time spent outdoors. Priority must be given to reconnecting children to the natural
environment.
There has been a substantial increase in research regarding the connection between Nature, human
Health, well-being, creativity and cognition. The connection between Nature, people, and the built environment is not new.
Specific questions emerged from this knowledge: What are the consequences to a child’s mental and physical health when disconnected from Nature? What is the human cost of alienating children from Nature? What is the role of children in Nature, now and in the future? How can architecture learn from Nature to help solve this problem?
Utilising educational facilities as the main typology to confront children’s lack of exposure to Nature can enhance children’s well-being. Nature can become a companion to conventional education. The Bezuidenhout Park Eco School was designed with precisely that goal in mind. By utilising aspects of the context, such as the Bezuidenhout Family Farmhouses and Siyakhana Food Gardens, the school becomes a sanctuary for children to escape the busy city life. The classrooms were designed with local earth materials, ensuring that the air quality and indoor temperatures are optimal for learning. Children continually circulate from the inside to the outside, blurring the lines between where Nature starts and ends. The footprint of the building was deliberately kept small, and designing around the existing nature of the park was crucial to the design development.
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