«Drafts: Architecture Goes to School»: An Educational Program in Architecture for Preschool Children
Abstract
The educational program «Drafts: Architecture Goes to School», implemented in two public kindergartens of central Athens during the 2015-16 school year, can be concisely divided into four phases. Phase one involved the observation and recording of kindergarten space directly experienced by children. In phase two children toured the neighborhood and took notes on their walks. Later, they elaborated on this material in various ways. During phase three children focused on four characteristic residential buildings of the Ano Petralona neighborhood and studied them. They talked with the residents and collected evidence in the form of testimonies, in the spirit of an anthropocentric approach to social reality. Phase four focused on the triangle «think- design – construct». By utilizing the knowledge they acquired during the previous phases, children created imaginary scripts for how the buildings could be used, by taking into consideration factors such as the people for whom the buildings were designed, or the wants and needs they were supposed to satisfy. Finally, they illustrated their scripts through the construction of models.
The main conclusion of our pedagogical intervention is that children’s relationship with space, and with the urban environment in particular, is formed and altered as they acquire skills for understanding and critical analysis, and as they are provided with the opportunity for active participation.
Article Details
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- THEMATIC FIELD ΙΙ & ΙΙΙ The multimodal intersection of urban and educational spaces & The city as a learning environment
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