"Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future." Robert L. Peters
On Friday 19th BA1 presented their project Schoolyard for creativity and safety in the Black room. Their task was to create a safe and creative environment for the school children at Mariebergsskolan in Umeå. The students made observations, workshops with the pupils, and also participated in a parent meeting.
Common to most of the BA students& proposals was the notion that the design was going to stimulate the children&s imagination and not have fixed rules or range of application, and also, the students wanted girls and boys to play together, and if possible they wanted younger and older children to be able to play together as well. Challenge, inspiration, stimulation, and imagination were keywords for the students. Among the concepts were a rotating playground of pipes that made beautiful sounds when you tapped them, sound tuned in the pentatonic scale to create recognition for children from all over the world, since the pentatonic scale is common in various parts of the world. Another design was inspired by graffiti and was meant both to be a great contrast to the school itself and to inspire the children&s imagination. One student had a concept with pyramid stairs that would challenge the cognitive thinking and where the pupils could play several kinds of games.
Staff from Mariebergsskolan, the Community Planning Office, the Pre-school and compulsory education administration and the Department of Social and Economic Geography, Umeå University attended the presentations and also gave some input to the students.
