architecture for kids: The Latest Architecture and News

The world certainly looks different through the eyes of a young child; enormous, intriguing, and somewhat overwhelming, and it has long been believed that what we encounter as children shapes our perspective of the world. When asked about his childhood memories in Switzerland, Peter Zumthor shared that the memories of his youth contain the deepest architectural experience, which has become reservoirs of the architectural atmospheres and images that he explores in his work as an architect today. 

Having a complete understanding of how children change and grow physically and psychologically throughout their childhood requires an in-depth observation of different factors, such as their hereditary traits and genetics, the interactions they have with other children and adults, as well as the environment they are living, playing, and learning in. In celebration of World Children’s Day on November 20th, we look at how architects and designers stimulated children's autonomy and promoted their mental and physical well-being through architecture and interior design.

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Reminiscing on his childhood, Peter Zumthor once said: “Memories like these contain the deepest architectural experience that I know. They are the reservoirs of the architectural atmospheres and images that I explore in my work as an architect.” These words allude to a fundamental concept behind kid friendly-design: everything we encounter in the first years of our lives, including architecture, can have a great impact on our future perspective of the world. When spaces are designed according to children’s specific needs, they stimulate their physical and mental well-being, as well as boosting autonomy, self-esteem and socialization skills. Therefore, architects have the responsibility to ensure that kids live, play and learn in environments that contribute to their long-term healthy development.

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Designing for kids is certainly not child’s play. Whilst the design process is undertaken by adults, the end-users are often children, such is the case in kindergarten, schools, and parks. Architects have a responsibility, therefore, to ensure that the built environment offers children the chance to play, explore, and learn in physical space, even in a digital age. With that in mind, here are 18 cool spaces designed especially for children – environments that may perhaps inspire the Fosters, Hadids, and Le Corbusiers of tomorrow.

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The Un-Habitat or the United Nations agency for human settlements and sustainable urban development, whose primary focus is to deal with the challenges of rapid urbanization, has been developing innovative approaches in the urban design field, centered on the active participation of the community. ArchDaily has teamed up with UN-Habitat to bring you weekly news, article, and interviews that highlight this work, with content straight from the source, developed by our editors.

In this second collaboration with UN-Habitat, discover different examples on how to design with and for kids in marginalized areas. In fact, child-responsive planning leads to a vibrant and animated inclusive city. Focusing on spaces for children, this feature highlights cases in Bangladesh, Niger, and Vietnam. These public spaces implementation projects seek to promote environment-friendly livable cities, taking on participatory approaches and involving the youngsters from the beginning of the process. In the end, no one knows the needs of kids, more than the kids themselves.

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