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The Role of Culture in Designing Child Care Facilities - Creating Culturally Reflective Environments

by Vicki L. Stoecklin
May/June 2001
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Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/the-role-of-culture-in-designing-child-care-facilities-creating-culturally-reflective-environments/5013960/

"Culture is the framework that guides and bounds life practices."

- Eleanor Lynch and Marci Hanson,
Developing Cross Cultural Competencies


It is said by cultural researchers that cultural understanding is normally established before age five. As child care centers are being built around the world, it is important that even at the schematic design phase, we create children's environments which reflect the culture, values, and traditions of the country or area where they are being located.

Our firm has been asked to design a children's play and discovery center similar to a children's museum in the country of Qatar. In addition, through our research, this project was found to be in need of a model employer-supported child care program. Doha, the capital of Qatar, only had one child care center in 1998 when we started our research. Clearly, if we wanted to get women to work at the children's play and discovery center, we would need to provide high quality child care as an employment benefit. This article will reflect upon our experiences in researching and studying the culture of Doha, Qatar to create a schematic design for the model employer-supported child care facility.

Culture and Architectural Child Care Design

Think of all of the different styles ...

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