Hello! I am CHEN Jinyu, a second-year master’s student in Urban Design Lab.
Uji project ran the 「The 3rd Naka-Uji Area Machiniwa Workshop (第3回 中宇治エリア まちにわワークショップ)」 on Nov. 7th after the first and second serial workshops in July.
Machiniwa (まちにわ) refers to the space in the Naka Uji Area which can be used for recreation. This serial workshop aims to create more opportunities for children to ponder about the city they live in, develop and foster the future of Uji.
▲ in the first and second workshops, the children tried to find out their own Machiniwa in Uji and replicate the scenes of Fureai Center (ふれあいセンター) by making a model
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In this 「Let’s make the Fureai Park! Workshop (ふれあいパークを作ろう！ワークショップ)」, a team consisting of the students from The University of Tokyo, Nara Women’s University, Keio University, Kyoto Bunkyo University, and Ritsumekan Uji Junior and Senior High School planned and organized the workshop with the help of Keihan Gardening san (京阪園芸), helped the children in Uji make the square of Fureai Park by their own.
▲ the leaflet of this workshop
We zoned the square of Fureai Park into three parts, one for each of lawns, flower beds, and clover.
Besides, the parents had another workshop for adults to discuss the future design of Fureiai Center while the children were doing their works.
▲ zoning of the square
The children in charge of the lawns used a small wood board to loosen the soil and sowed the sodding lawn on the ground in an orderly manner, then added the top dressing on the grass.
In making flower beds, the children planted flowers of different colors in the flower beds designed by Keihan Gardening san, which allowed them to walk on the board to get to the middle of the working area and then bury the tulip bulbs in the soil.
The children plant clovers of two colors and then spread a thin layer of the material over the grass.
▲ recent situation of the clover (photo by Miyagi sensei)
▲ a handkerchief as a gift to the participant
I didn't have much experience designing the living environment with local children in China. Therefore, this workshop was of great importance to me. I've learned a lot about activity planning and organization, and the most important thing is that I have realized the significance of the design in practice with people's lives.
There are four Naka-Uji Area Machiniwa Workshops planned in succession. The fourth workshop will be held in the spring of next year when the tulips bloom. Please stay tuned to this serial workshop's reports.
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