Back to School Week: 10 Whimsical School Buildings Around the World

photos © David Romero-Uzeda [via ArchDaily]

Whether heading back to back to pre-K or grad school this week, there's no classroom that couldn't be improved by bubble gum pink Pantone chairs and cave-like sculpted walls... not to mention splash pools, indoor slides and hanging gardens. Fortunately, some whimsically minded architects and interior designers have done just that.

Above are the Saint Jean's Schools in Strasbourg, France, a dreamy 2013 renovation undertaken by Dominique Coulon & Associés. Working with the original 1960s building, the architects added curved shapes to contrast with the regularity of the classrooms and to rearrange the ground floor as fluid, welcoming spaces.

[photos via Architizer]

With a slide running through its cafeteria, Ayb High School in Yerevan, Armenia, looks more like a Google office than a typical high school. Storaket Architectural Studio incorporated an existing Soviet structure to create a learning environment that emphasizes creative thinking and breaks down hierarchical barriers between students and staff

photos © Charis Markodimitrakis [via archilovers]

Bobiroupoli Kindergarden in Heraklion, Greece, is a technicolor dreamland sure to stimulate the senses. The interior was designed by Cube Concept in 2012.

photos by Heatherwick Studio [via Archute]

Designed by Heatherwick Studio and completed in March of this year, Singapore's Learning Hub at Nanyang Technological University is devoid of isolating long corridors to foster interaction among students and professors and to meet modern educational needs.

[photos via BBC and Open Buildings]

The Aadharshila Vatika School was completed in 2007 by Space Architects in New Delhi, India, with giant pencil-shaped columns marking the entrance.

photos © Adriono A. Biondo [via Inhabitots]

The cat-shaped Kindergarten Wolfartsweier in  Karlsruhe, Germany, was a joint effort between French artist Tomi Ungerer and architect d’Ayla-Suzan Yöndel, with a slide in the back forming from the cat's tail.

[photos via Adorable Home]

I featured Paris' Ecole Maternelle Pajol in my roundup of rainbow interiors, but how could it not figure into this post? The bright and cheery space designed by architects Palatre et Leclere is sure to spark any child's imagination.

[photos via Fast Company]

At the METI School in Rudrapur, Bangladesh, classrooms are connected by caves, while bamboo shutters and colorful fabrics on the ceiling keep classrooms light and airy. Completed in 2006, The school was built by experts and volunteers from Germany and Austria, led by Anna Heringer and Eike Roswag.

[photos via Architecture Lab]

Designed by Elena Dobrovolskaya and Dream Design Studio, the New School in Kiev, Ukraine, was undertaken with the concept of " joy, inspiration, creativity, [and] positive thinking" in mind. I'd certainly say they succeeded.

[photos via My Modern Met]

Just completed in June by architecture firm Hibino Sekkei, the Dai-ichi Yochien preschool in Kumamoto City, Japan, celebrates each and every rainy day. That's because the school is built around a central courtyard where water collects to create a giant puddle just perfect for splash-happy toddlers.

Ready for the new school year yet?