Connecting the Children of the Urban Realm to Nature

Ekaterina Glavatkaia

Thesis

Proposal: Primary School 
Location: Richmond St N, Drumcondra, Dublin & Ardilaun Square, Ballybough, Dublin

I have proposed an open-air school in an educational landscape as a vehicle to test my thesis position that aims to create opportunities for children to interact with nature and provide them with a hands-on learning experience. The brief consists of an educational landscape which offers the schools of NEIC aspects they lack and need; such as a new school and space for outdoor education. This landscape has multiple clearings that act as outdoor classrooms surrounded by native plants and trees, a small piece of an Irish woodland. 

My focus has always been to provide for the existing schools of NEIC, and while the proposed primary school addresses the need for extra classrooms it does not solve the other needs of the schools. For this reason, my scheme is spread across two sites. The site north of the canal is a planted landscape mimicking a native Irish woodland with other facilities mixed throughout. This site is intended for the use of every student regardless of what school they attend. It brings the benefits associated with forest schools into the heart of the city.