• Human Centered Design
THE JOURNEY
Kindergarten
An inclusive educational project in Italy designed for children aged one to six, where accessibility, care, and belonging shaped the architecture from the start. Developed with YACademy and Dynamo Camp, it rethinks the kindergarten as a shared community space that supports learning, integration, and collective growth.
Sector
Educational
Year
2023
Client
Status
Design
Location
Milano, Italy
Raul Pantaleo
YACademy
Dynamo Camp
Architects
M. Bragagnolo
J. Hodghson
M. Lopomo
Farah Saab
A kindergarten is often expected to carry a complexity far beyond its size, as it must balance safety with stimulation, structure with play, and protection with freedom in a way that supports both learning and emotional development. Too often, educational design responds to these demands through superficial gestures such as brighter colors, softer forms, or familiar symbols of childhood, but The Journey Kindergarten takes a more considered approach by asking a deeper question: what kind of educational environment emerges when inclusion is not treated as an additional requirement, but as the principle from which the entire design begins?
Developed in Italy in 2023 for children between one and six years old, the project was conceived as part of YACademy’s Architecture for Inclusion program with Dynamo Camp, with the ambition of creating a space where children with special needs could thrive together through one shared spatial experience rather than parallel accommodations. In this sense, accessibility is not framed as compliance, but as a cultural and architectural value that shapes the project from the ground up.
The design rejects the image of the kindergarten as a closed object detached from its surroundings, and instead reimagines it as a caregiving and communal environment where belonging is cultivated as intentionally as learning. Architecture here extends beyond classrooms, corridors, and playgrounds to become a framework for social development, embedding care into movement, visibility, access, and shared use.
This intention is especially clear in the site strategy, where the building works with flat accessible terrains and the natural contours of the hill rather than imposing a rigid geometry on the land. The result is an environment where accessibility feels inherent to the project itself, not applied afterward as a corrective measure.
Guided by the idea of Design Beyond Vision, the project focuses on lived experience by considering how children move, gather, orient themselves, and feel included within space. Through openness, clear circulation, and shared communal zones, The Journey Kindergarten becomes more than an educational building; it becomes a spatial model for community, demonstrating how architecture can support learning, dignity, and a genuine culture of inclusion.
