Nature education in the urban wilderness
The Milíčův dům Forest Kindergarten in Prague’s Žižkov district is a small but significant intervention at the intersection of environment, education and community. It was built in an unused space below the peak of Křížový vrch and, according to a study by the team of architects Jiří Pleskot, it will be part of the future park of the garden under Parukářka park. In the surroundings of the urban “wilderness”, the kindergarten today enables children to have a daily contact with nature, to experience the change of seasons and to have their own childhood landscape. The project was commissioned by the Municipal District of Prague 3, with the support of the director of the Milíčův dům kindergarten and in cooperation with the Association of Forest Kindergartens. It provides facilities for 18 children and their guides, with a significant part of the day spent outdoors, in direct contact with the environment.
The close collaboration between the architect and the landscape architect from the initial concept to the smallest detail has resulted in an atypical facility designed with the respect for the existing natural elements, the future park structure and the pedestrian routes. The 800m² site consists of a natural garden and three subtle prefabricated wooden pavilions – a dining room, a bedroom and social facilities – which form a sheltered central space.
The buildings and the garden are designed to be sustainable, using natural materials and following the principles of forest kindergarten pedagogy. The untreated larch pavilions with extensive green roofs and lockable shutters are not permanently heated; they provide shelter in bad weather, only the dining room has a wood-burning stove. The pavilions will eventually be overgrown with climbing plants, as will the temporary fencing around the whole site. The garden offers space for creativity and outdoor work and, above all, for free play; there is space for a morning circle, a fire place, growing beds, fruit trees and shrubs, with the intention of serving both education and the biodiversity and microclimate of the place.
• Other landscape architecture offices involved in the design of the landscape:
TERRA FLORIDA, ATELIÉR JASNÉ
• Other credits:
ASOCIACE LESNÍCH MATEŘSKÝCH ŠKOL: Johana Passerin
Prague 3 city district – investor
50.0848364N, 14.4652947E
