After its completion in late 2023, Tianlin Park1 designed by VIASCAPE has been receiving positive public feedbacks. Coincidentally, teachers from Xuhui Science and Technology Kindergarten2 visited Tianlin park multiple times during 2024–2025. They found that the natural habitat design, which integrated into the holistic landscape experience, closely aligns with their ongoing early childhood nature education program. This led to an initial contact with VIASCAPE through connections, in which they expressed a strong interest in collaborating on the landscape enhancement of their kindergarten's Wending campus (hereinafter referred to as "the kindergarten"). Following this initial contact in April 2025, we begun the design work of the landscape renewal of the kindergarten.
Preliminary work was essential in the design process. Through on-site survey, we quickly identified the landscape elements worth preserving. In-depth discussions with the kindergarten's teaching team helped us understand the kindergarten’s teaching program features in "Nature Awareness," "Sci-Tech," and "Sports," which led us to define the landscape renewal concept as an "Outdoor Learning and Exploring Space for Children."
In early May 2025, responding to the kindergarten's educational philosophy "Play+", we proposed the overall design concept and detailed scheme for the "Flying Chess Kindergarten". The scheme uses the Flying Chess game as a graphic prototype, projecting and adapting it to the site's conditions to form a spatial structure, while incorporating the "four-colored paths" from the original game into distinctive landscape design. The blue path is designed as a "Journey of Strength" to match the kindergarten’s emphasis on sports education. The green path unfolds a "Nature Journey", illustrating food chains and ecological niches, physically speaking with adjacent water body and sand pit. The pink path is a "Time Journey" reflecting the traditional Chinese "24 Solar Terms" for seasonal awareness. The yellow path serves as a "Space Journey" with an astronomy-themed focus. Although the design of Flying Chess Kindergarten represents a significant redefinition of the original request, it effectively constructs an outdoor learning-engaging landscape aligned with the kindergarten's teaching features and philosophy.
From a design perspective, the design of Flying Chess Kindergarten continues VIASCAPE's consistent concerns on spatial construction logic and landscape functionality. We used a 2m×2m square modular grid as the basis for spatial organization. A two-dimensional repetition of the module forms the main exploration path and concentrated activity areas. At the same time, we introduced a smaller module set that includes sizes of 1m×1m and 0.5m×0.5m, trying to enrich spatial interfaces and generate three-dimensional spatial variations, which further created stepped seating around the central play area and integrated spaces for fun activities.
The central activity area incorporates the 2m×2m, 1m×1m, and 0.5m×0.5m in the modular system to combine diverse functional activities such as mazes, hopscotch, basketball, soccer, and group exercises. This multifunctional design maximizes the use of limited outdoor space. Another highlight is the "Solar System Gravity Field", which was transformed from the existing "Cave-Hill" play structure utilizing the same modular logic. This space visually introduces concepts like gravity and the solar system, while parametric design and construction create a rich environment for spatial cognition. Moreover, the four themed paths of the "Flying Chess board" layout form individual loops and converge at the center, creating a spacious, safe, and distinctive circulation route.
Our landscape design for educational spaces have consistently addressed students' personal growth. In Flying Chess Kindergarten, we further focused on how the outdoor environment enhances young children's cognitive and exploratory abilities. The "Flying Chess board" concept establishes a basic spatial system, helping children intuitively understand spatial structures and relations. The four distinct "Paths of Growth" not only align closely with the kindergarten’s educational philosophy but also enable personal development through simple play. By incorporating appropriately non-linear layouts and designing flexible spaces, we actively encourage children to explore both the space itself and various spatial uses. We believe that the children learning and playing in Flying Chess Kindergarten will grow into a new generation who cares for nature, passionate about life, eager to explore, possess sound character and healthy body.
