Design for Kids
Exley, Sharon and Exley, Peter (2007).
The Images Publishing Group Pty Ltd.; 275 pages. $60. ISBN 1864701803.
Being a designer who has worked with children and youth on participatory projects, I was excited when I first saw this book. It is colorful, has many beautiful and fun photographs and drawings, and is well-designed. The 44 projects illustrated within are sure to provide inspiration for others interested in designing spaces for children and youth or for potential clients looking to see what is possible. However, for more in-depth information about the design process and key components of designing for young people, the reader would be smart to look elsewhere.
I found the first section, “Play with Architecture” and the last two sections, “Informants for Design: Teaching, Reflection, and Inquiry” and “Building the Dream” the most informative sections in the book. Within these sections, the authors, a man and wife team of art educator/painter and architect, share their philosophy and process for creating educative design™. This includes their TR(i)cycle method that incorporates teaching, reflection, and inquiry into the design process. Unfortunately, these three sections of the book only include a very brief overview rather than a through explanation of designing for young people.
The majority of the book is dedicated to descriptions of spaces the authors have designed themselves. The project descriptions are grouped into the following categories: architectural, out-of-doors, experiential, exploratory, public, cultural, spiritual, and multi-generational. While these categories sound intriguing, they were not particularly meaningful as the projects described seemed to fit into multiple categories. It would have been more informative to group the projects by type, such as religious facilities, museums, educational centers, and the like.
The project descriptions are elegantly written, yet sound a little too much like selling points in a designer’s portfolio rather than reflections on projects that have been designed for children. For example, the section focused on the South Pond Nature Center describes a wonderfully rich concept for the re-design of an area in Lincoln Park in Chicago, Illinois. The illustrations present the design of a fun place for kids and parents alike. Unfortunately, however, this is all that is included. There is no information about the designers’ process, whether the project is slated to be built in the near future, or how much it will cost to build. I have personally worked on projects where a creative vision gets manipulated and altered beyond recognition due to restrictive budgets, bureaucratic decisions, doubts and resistance of maintenance staff, and a variety of other factors. Having experienced this, I would have found it extremely useful for the authors to include some of these details for the projects they presented in the book.
For that same project in Lincoln Park, the authors state, “Outdoor learning nodes will foster an affinity for the natural world and develop an instinct to conserve it.” This is a bold statement that may indeed be true, yet is very dependent on the quality, accessibility and function of those “outdoor learning nodes.” If the purpose is to present a project that is conceptually strong and designed to foster a greater concern for the natural world, the authors would have been more persuasive by referencing studies that have shown this to be true. To their credit, the authors do recommend that people interested in designing for children learn about child development and educational theory by looking at the work of Roger Hart, Louise Chawla and Edith Cobb among others; however, this recommendation was buried on page 257.
All of the project descriptions could have been improved by referencing the photos in the text, thus allowing the two to better complement each other, leading to a greater understanding of each project. The photos and drawings themselves are often not labeled other than with a very simple title, which left me wanting more information about each project. This was especially true for the floor plans and elevations. Although beautifully drawn, the authors missed an opportunity to provide important details about each space, such as circulation patterns, layout, and size.
Despite all that it is lacking, the book showcases some wonderful and inspiring examples of spaces designed for young people. The Get Fit! traveling exhibit at the Louisville Science Center in Louisville, Kentucky is an interactive exhibit that gets kids moving and testing their physical fitness. The Children’s Museum of Brownsville in Brownsville, Texas is a place designed to bring “Mexican and American culture, history, and lore” to young people in a playful and exciting way. The Go Green! exhibit at the Young at Art Children’s Museum in Davie, Florida allows young people to explore ideas of protecting the environment and learn about specific environmental actions like recycling and buying “green.” Although the researcher in me would love to find out if these places do indeed have an impact on the lives and actions of the young people who use them, the designer in me sees these spaces as truly inspiring and unique.
The authors have provided us an exciting glimpse of what is possible when designing for kids, and I hope that places such as those presented in this book become accessible someday for all young people to explore and learn from. I need to start planning some field trips!
Reviewer Information
University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center
Debra Flanders Cushing has degrees in landscape architecture from Penn State and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is currently working on her Ph.D. in design and planning at the University of Colorado where she teaches service learning courses. Debra is very interested in the meaningful participation of children and youth in the design process.