Regenerative playscapes
Date
2011-10-21
Authors
Dyirakumunda, Tinashe
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Abstract
Child’s play. Both creative and destructive creativity. Yet through this activity
of creative self expression, freedom of exploration and enquiry that
it allows, an assimilation of knowledge follows. Traditional formal and informal
learning takes place in the tranquil environment of the preschool
and non-structured open spaces respectively within an ideally self regulating
broader public forum.
With both the natural and built environment constantly interacting with
social circumstance to enable and facilitate play and by extension learning.
The context of the Johannesburg inner city landscape, a traditionally
considered hostile environment for these activities, is being interrogated
as one that can off er both informal but more importantly formal opportunities.
This densely built up urban landscape is geared for economic activity and
houses an increasingly urban population from the lower tiers of the economic
spectrum inevitably resulting in congestion, which places an additional
stain on health care, education and other social structures. Compounded
to an urban scenario where there are already existing hazards
such as traffi c and safety plus tight spatial constraints, such forces do not
act collectively to create a child friendly educative conducive environment.
The importance of education cannot be over emphasised in the struggle
to alleviate poverty and it starts with structured early childhood development
programmes. Architecture becomes part of the solution through
the creation of necessary positive spaces. This thesis aims to better understand
how play as a mechanism for learning for young children can
be used to develop an architectural response for formal spaces that enhance
early childhood development in the inner city of Johannesburg.