Wondrous Light Children's House by CHANG Architects

This is a children's place offering a living, breathing form of nurturing. It allows self-discovery of the individual; understanding and being conscientious of oneself through the exploration of the senses, through physical movement, and through interacting with others and the environment. It is about cultivating the will and feelings, more than information gathering and defining knowledge.

Architect: CHANG Architects
Location: Singapore
Year: 2017
Photography: Mr. Albert Lim K.S.

From the architect: The space is about making connections to the environment, humanity, the cosmos, and all of life's experiences as these unfold through daily encounters. Designed with the children’s scale, perspectives and psychologies in mind, children move through and dwell in crafted spaces that offer a variety of spatial experiences that support emotional developments. Varying planar qualities through the use of natural and recycled plywood panels offer different experiences of touch and feel with the change in texture, line works, and formal expressions.

Devoid of large, colourful graphics and alphabets common in pre-schools, the spaces here set the backdrop for the different needs of the children’s activities, arousing the sense of curiosity and imagination.

The emphasis here is not about ‘head-learning’ but ‘limb-learning’; it is about experiences, the senses, feelings, and the concern for children as embodied beings engaging with the material world; and the importance, richness, and value of experience as a source of knowledge.

This project does not aim to 'éducate' children through academics nor exposing them with the latest digital technologies. It offers a 'home environment' where children feel calm and secured to enjoy free, self-directed play; to develop a sense of empathy; and through explorations and enhancements of their senses, they become emotionally stable, more authentic, imaginative, and conscientious of their state of being.

Although housed in a small conservation shophouse, it has much to offer for happy childhood, as seen in the confident, contented and joyful faces of the children here.

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