YueCheng Courtyard Kindergarten

The design concept comes from Ma Yansong’s roots as a boy growing up in the hutongs, or narrow alleys, of Beijing. There is an old saying in Beijing when kids are naughty: “Three days without a beating, and a child will scale the roof and rip off the tiles!” This saying does bring to mind an image of children freely climbing up high and running along rooftops.

Envisioned as a place of limitless freedom and imagination, the Courtyard Kindergarten unfolds on the site with a low and gentle posture. It features a dynamic rooftop that transforms the limited space between the various buildings, into a colorful playground—a place full of magic, where children can run freely.
Below the roof, the kindergarten’s open-concept layout serves as a teaching space, library, small theater, and gymnasium, combining to offer a free and inclusive environment with no boundaries or obstacles.

Organized around the old courtyard, the new learning space opens up toward the historic buildings through a floor-to-ceiling glass curtain wall that offers alternating views of old and new from the interior.

The design retains the authenticity of the original buildings, while allowing them to coexist more fully with one another by creating new interaction between them. The architecture offers children an understanding of history and space, preserving the passion for freedom that children innately possess and their pure imagination of the future.