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New hopscotch game by Animum Ludendo Coles for an eco-learning center in a former farm

If you travel by train from the countryside to the cities in northern Italy, you pass many farmsteads whose size testifies to the economic strength of past generations, and which today often have holes in their roofs and walls and are falling into disrepair. Some of them, however, have now found a new function, and one example of this is the Cascina Sereni on the outskirts of the town of Casalmaggiore. We are presenting it here because there is a new project taking place led by the non-profit organization Animum Ludendo Coles: Their artists and stonemasons are known for the hopscotch games in town squares where the children from the neighborhood romp around.

The fact that the children are crazy about these games is also due to the fact that they were allowed to design the motifs for the floor tiles themselves. This is part of the philosophy of Animum Ludendo Coles. The adults only help with the design.

The Cascina Sereni farm is now an eco-hostel (Eco-Ostello Interfluma Cascina Sereni). It is used as a multifaceted learning center: In the area there are opportunities to learn about agriculture and crops, an area for orienteering offers opportunities for integrative sports and more.

The description outlines the self-image of the facility: It is about spending time outside, where young and old can come together and make a lot of noise.

The key terms of Animum Ludendo Coles’ work are “urban renewal, play areas, educational gardens and participatory design,“ as one description states.

The hopscotch game at Cascina Sereni takes up the symbol of the “Third Paradise“ (Terzo Paradiso): it is the symbol for infinity borrowed from mathematics and slightly modified. Instead of two arches of equal size as in the original, here there are two smaller arches on the outside and a large one in the middle.

The artist Michelangelo Pistoletto (born 1933) invented this world philosophy: in the 1st paradise, man lived in harmony with nature, in the 2nd paradise he rose above it and almost destroyed it, in the 3rd paradise there is a new harmony.

For the hopscotch game at Cascina Sereni, the students from six local classes spent two years coming up with the motifs for the panels. The aim was also to give the children a sense of sustainability and responsibility.

And: They should understand that they can shape the future.

Another important topic was understanding differences, tolerating them and even appreciating them.

81 basalt slabs were laid for the circles. In total, the hopscotch game is 12 x 6 m in size.

Representatives of the municipality and the region, schools, clubs and sports associations, banking foundations, local companies, the research center for active education at the Alma Mater University in Bologna, the Pistoletto Foundation and of course Animum Ludendo Coles were involved in the project.

An example of another project is the courtyard of the G. Marconi primary school in Chiavasso (TO). Not only the schoolchildren were involved in the design of the hopscotch game. Parents and grandparents as well as adults from the neighbourhood were also invited to share their ideas using questionnaires. The aim was to bring different generations together.

“The project aimed to rediscover and pass on the games common in the region as a means of bonding, bringing people together and integrating them,“ writes Animum Ludendo Coles.

Animum Ludendo Coles (Italian)

Eco-Ostello Interfluma Cascina Sereni (Italian)

Photos: Animum Ludendo Coles

Video (Italian)

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(18.12.2024, USA: 12.18.2024)