We are in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, where children play in a rooftop playground dotted with small wooden houses. It is a perfect setting for hide-and-seek. 
Mukou Leimondo Nursery School
The scale of the elements is designed for children, who become the protagonists of a small parallel city. The wooden structures on the roof also serve as light wells for the nursery below.
Archivision Hirotani Studio
Designed by Archivision Hirotani Studio, Mukou Leimondo Nursery School uses colorful, double-height interior spaces and a roof garden to turn architecture into a form of play.
Colors define rooms and functions
The architects described the project through the ideas of the House of Light and the Little Village. Light enters from above through the small roof structures, changing with the time of day and the season.
The house of light
The rooms are designed as playful spaces while preserving a clear, minimal Japanese sensibility. House-shaped openings and sloping roofs reinforce the feeling of a small community.
The archetype of the house
A chair attached to the ceiling in the playroom adds a surreal note and encourages children to look at the room differently.
The chair on the ceiling
Above all, light is the true protagonist of the game. Children perceive its changes, follow it, play with it and gradually sense the passing of time.
The play of light
The rooftop playground also responds to a practical need: in dense urban areas, limited land makes the roof an important place for outdoor play.
miranda_shida
Anna Lohan
Peter Dark
