The Children’s Museum

This studio took on the topic of the Children’s Museum at Buffalo’s Canalside as a way of investigating spaces where different children of different ages, along with their caregivers, parents, and grandparents, come together to play and learn. Considering how the spaces of childhood are designed but also how they are influenced by social ideals, philosophies, norms, and standards, the students worked through precedents to understand examples of historical and contemporary approaches. Further, thinking of creativity, movement, sensory experiences, social interaction, communication, and play, the studio allowed opportunities to investigate and design strategies at various scales from the urban approach to the tactile detail. Beyond slides and bright colors, the course analyzed and proposed designs that are open-ended, non-standard, and playful, and which respond to the inter-generational audience of the building.