Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/thinking-inside-the-box-an-architect-looks-at-new-models-for-childrens-space/5015538/
I’m an architect and tend to think like an architect. We often think in terms of models and precedents when looking for inspiration as we approach designs. In the 18th century, Jean Jacques Rousseau used the primitive hut as an example of a pure expression of architecture in service of man. Unspoilt by the overwrought designs of the academic architects of his time, it was simple, functional, beautiful, and worthy of being a model and inspiration for all. Rousseau saw it as a representation of the search for that which is essential in the human condition.In the same spirit, I would like to propose, as the new “primitive hut” of architecture for children, the Cardboard Refrigerator Box: a model capable of informing our search for the essential in the human condition writ small. In the quest to create wonderful spaces for children, it’s also useful to look at several other non-traditional models and examples of how children behave “in the wild.” But, you ask, do we really need a new and somewhat counter-intuitive paradigm for children’s spaces? Why not? The current models (acknowledged or latent) are, to a great extent, inappropriate, exhausted of their creative potential, or followed so closely ...