05December
Designing Inspiring and Effective Spaces for Children: A Project of the 2015 Working Forum on Design and Nature
A Project of the 2015 Working Forum on Design and Nature
March 11-14, 2015 • Rotorua, New Zealand
Architects, landscape architects, planners, educators, environmental advocates, funders, and others came together in a first-of-its kind event to explore high-level universal principles necessary in designing effective spaces for children. These four universal principles were woven through the conference:
- The power and importance of collaboration — why the voices of the architect, landscape architect, educator and child must all be part of the design process.
- The importance of respecting the context of space and place in the design process.
- The importance of the connection between inside and outside spaces in the design process.
- The importance of the intention for the space (the pedagogy) in guiding the design process.
Participants worked in multidisciplinary teams to create indoor and outdoor designs for three programs from Australia, Cambodia and Ghana. Each program submitted detailed briefs with environmental and cultural background, site plans, budget and economic issues, as well as a detailed explanation of the need for a new site plan. Through this real-life design process, each of the four themes above were interwoven with hands-on design time.