Educational Park | Braccini School
Via Braccini, TurinFor some years now, it has been decided, where possible, to use schoolyards as educational tools to re-establish the relationship between the very young and nature. Their potential, which has always been known, had already been formalised by Maria Montessori, who had understood the special link between childhood and nature, grasping the latter’s immense educational potential. Montessori always stated that children need to experience nature, not only to know it, arguing that it is precisely contact with nature that enables children (even very young children) to bring out their inner strength, which is functional to growth but also as a “strength in feeling” nature, with beneficial effects on the psyche, mind and spirit, enriching perception and learning.
For the garden of the Braccini school where there used to be a simple courtyard, we designed green spaces with added value for children and young people, offering a place to meet, play, take a break, study, recycle, encounter nature and finally socialise during recreation, or being able to be included in the school programme as places for sports practice or outdoor educational activities such as gardens, workshops, green areas. We have studied concrete sensory experiences, the use of native plants which contributes to the preservation of local habitats, ensuring biodiversity, reducing the effects of urban overheating and the cost of cooling the school environment (a function performed by trees and shrubs), offering a wide variety of experiences to propose to the children and finally helping to make them participate in environmental protection.
