I wrote this blog post, on this exact day, two years ago while living and studying abroad in Bologna, Italy. I can still feel the love and childish enthusiasm I felt while writing it. Enjoy!
Our fourth day of class was spent in a child’s dream world…a neighborhood thought up, created, and based on the essential needs of children. The idea for Coriandoline in Correggio, Italy was born from the initial idea that for a home to be a true cooperative for inhabitants, homes should be based on the children’s needs as well as the adults. In 1995 a group of 50 teachers, 2 child psychologists, and 20 architect, engineers, surveyors, builders and carpenters, began working with 700 kindergardeners having them drawing pictures, listening to their ideas, giving them cardboard houses to decorate as they pleased, and more to gather ideas. Four years later a manifesto of the children’s most popular needs and desires were put to work in the construction of Coriandoline.
Pictures from inside the developing room and of the children’s contributions:
The neighborhood consists of 10 homes and 10 apartments. Luciana Pantaleoni, the head of the project, said the more important design to be incorporated was the concept of play. He says” We wanted to create an area which could be exploited and enjoyed by the whole community, but which used children’s experiences and needs as a parameter for quality.” Each house has its own theme, such as The House with the Roof held up by trees, The House with the Studio over the lane, The Castle House and more. The garages are under grassy dirty mounds for the children to play on, the cars drive through the mouth of a monster and sleep in its “belly” until morning, the children did not want the noise of cars driving around. The street lamps are birds in flight with light shining from their bellies, theres a snake sidewalk to swallow any bad people before reaching the homes, and on top of the highest house is a rod to catch bad spirits and lighting. The children expressed that they only get one room in the home and their parents get the rest, Pantaleoni fixed this problem by making every room for the children and adults. What could be better than living in your childhood dreams?
The Horn used by the children to call other children to come out and play!
Here are the 10 essential needs, based on the children’s thoughts, to build each home and a few quotes from the children themselves.
TRANSPARENT
“our windows are too high so maybe the walls should be transparent”
“I want to see the moon and stars when I go to sleep”
HARD OUTSIDE
“could make it with iron maybe a few bricks too”
“Burglars will hurt themselves on iron walls before they can hurt us plus monsters and witches can’t get in”
SOFT INSIDE
“Made of snow and soft”
“..so i can tumble all over it”
CHILDSIZE
“a little door so only kids can get in”
“parents are bossy I get fed up”
BIG
“I can fit all my friends, food, ice-cream, and barbies in it”
“Big as the sky, could use trees to make it touch to the sky” (how the tree house was born)
PEACEFUL
“Really quiet so only birds can chirp”
“I can’t play if it’s loud, I want flowers and no cars”
INTIMATE
“A room so I can hide when I’m angry and don’t want to be seen”
“So I can hide my jewels with no one finding them”
DECORATED
“Field of flowers and a yellow door”
“No white, it’s just nicer that way” (reminder these kids are about 3 or 4 yrs old)
PLAYFUL
“I want to color on walls and make whatever I want”
“Where I can jump on clouds and play with my friends”
MAGIC
“So I can make a mess then abracadabra its clean!”
“I want a room to turn into a swimming pool and when I sleep my floor change colors”
There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again. ~E.Lawrence
