Kensington Primary School grade 5/6 are using ArtPlay as the site for their design investigations. There are three classes of 5/6 and each class are visiting ArtPlay for design intensives with Architect Martin Musiatowicz and Curator Karen Fermo of KART. The children will be designing and developing their designs at ArtPlay and at school. Each class will produce a model of their design.
Session one - 27th July 2011
We started with some presentations looking at scale, mapping, drawing and modelling, as well as the role of architects. This was followed by an exercise exploring scale, where each person (including us and the teachers) built a scale version of themselves and placed it in the 1:20 model of ArtPlay. We lined everyone up from tallest to shortest to test if our
scaling had worked - they seemed to really enjoy this.
After this, we broke into groups of 3-4 and the students went outside to map the ArtPlay backyard (this was very funny as half of them just ran off and started rolling down the hill and playing on the swings!). Each group of selected a site for their cubby and presented their discoveries to the class.
Before beginning our design exercise, we discussed what the students' experiences of cubbies were, what they thought might be important consideration and requirements for the cubby. There was a lot of discussion about privacy, security and the need to select who might be included although some of the students thought that because the site was public, that it should be freely accessible to all. There was some concern that allowing younger children into the space might present problems with safety, so this would need to be considered in the design of the cubbies.
The final part of the day was a design exercise after which each group presented their concpet for a cubby in the ArtPlay surrounds - there were very diverse solutions which responded strongly to the selected site. Some groups were drawn by the steep embankment as it provided an opportunity to view, while other found sites hidden behind the playground. Many great ideas emerged from the process.
We are planning a follow up visit to the school in early September to see what Mr. Mills and the students have decided to pursue in the development of these ideas.
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