More information about de Workshops of Architecture and Nature
The Cycle’s philosophy
At a time of global environmental crisis, where the impact of climate change, loss of biodiversity and disconnection from the natural environment mark everyday life, offering children opportunities to reconnect with nature becomes urgent and essential. Modern cities and environments, where a large part of the world’s population lives, have mostly been built with their backs turned on the rhythms of the earth and traditional knowledge of materials. Faced with this reality, environmental and artistic education from childhood plays a fundamental role. This programme of workshops offers educational and creative experiences based on play, modelling and construction with natural materials such as clay, earth, water and seeds, which are deeply connected to life, or systems that allow the optimal use of construction materials (bars and knots from geodesic domes). Not only do they stimulate children’s tactile and sensory sensitivity, but they also allow them to imagine and create new ways of inhabiting the world: slower, more collaborative and deeply rooted in respect for nature.
Working with these materials allows us to:
• Foster a direct, intimate and respectful relationship with the environment.
• Stimulate creativity and imagination without the need for prefabricated or technological toys.
• Recover ancestral knowledge linked to working with your hands, the cycles of the earth and collective construction.
• Reinforce the link between body, mind and environment, promoting a comprehensive learning experience.
• Value the imperfect, the transformable, that which changes over time, as part of the process.
In addition, these workshops encourage collaboration, dialogue and mutual respect by inviting children to build something together that is at once real, symbolic and alive. Through clay, water and seeds, a powerful idea is also revealed: that it is possible to build a different future based on simplicity, listening, cooperation and a connection to what we have in common.
Workshop Methodology
Each workshop is structured in two main parts to ensure a comprehensive and meaningful learning experience:
1. Theoretical and Narrative Part (Presentation). An introduction will be given to the concepts and figures that inspire the workshop. This presentation will be supported by visual material, such as images and examples that allow participants to understand the principles of architecture, nature and sustainability in a simple and attractive way. Stories and anecdotes will be told to connect with the imagination of the children and their companions.
2. Practical and Collaborative Part (Hands-on Workshop). Now the participants will take action. By manipulating natural materials and applying the concepts explained, they will work manually and collaboratively to build, model and create. This part is the core of the workshop, where theory becomes a tangible experience and learning is reinforced through play, dialogue and teamwork.