Chaos: The Spontaneous Order | Fall 2021 | CEPT Excellence Award Winner
CEPT University
Chaos:
The word Chaos, has evolved over time from its literal meaning shifting from an immeasurable space to utter confusion, which led me to question the very notion of how people have perceived the word. Right from mental chaos to social chaos, the word has been used extensively to express man emotions, most of which take a more negative tone.
Reinterpreting this word, as a positive notion: that of a freedom of choice, and the possibility of having multiple truths and activities, the project instills this very sense of discovery through activity, freedom of choice and curiosity and translates these qualities into spaces of sensory play and learning for children.
Tools: Rhino 3D, SketchUp, Procreate, Adobe Creative Suite, Figma
“Ideas of purity, perfection, and order, become sources of impurity, imperfection, and disorder"
- Bernard Tschumi
“To find in its chaos and danger an invigorating charm that could serve as a new and desirable model for social interaction.”
- Rem Koolhaas
Having associated the word often with a variety of choices, a multiplicity of emotions and an array of possibilities, an attempt was then made to draw comparison between these two contrasting approaches towards the same word.
Mix up: Amalgamation
Disorder/Absence of Structure: Natural/Unique
Lawlessness: Freedom
Movement: Interaction
Confusion: Discovery
Intent:
The design intervention allows children to engage in the making of the spaces and intends to translate these architectural building techniques and elements of space making into interactive learning aids and play methods for the overall growth and development of children. It aims at creating a Spontaneous Order, which would be the result of human actions, and not of using designs. It would rather use these human designs as catalysts to create such an environment. The project translates the use of architectural tools, elements and building and joining practices in order to provide an ever changing learning environment, touching up on the following aspects of development in Children.
The concrete construction qualities of these materials are reinterpreted to fit into this learning environment and act as tools and playing material as follows:
Earth: The element of play
Concrete: the element of customization and color
Timber: The element of craft
Fabric: The element of fluidity
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Model A
With an aim to cater to an audience of slightly older kids, the model is designed to promote mobility, collaborative learning and motor engagement. The model comes as a starter kit, with plug-ins that allow the kids not only to use the space, but also help build and expand the space they inhabit using collaborative building practices. In this process, it aims to cultivate teamwork, a sense of co-ownership as well as a huge amount of exposure to materials, building techniques and motor skills, for their overall development.
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Model B
This model focuses on cultivating a sense of self exploration and discovery among young children. With the possibility of spilling out into an open classroom, the model is designed as an outdoor system. With various shapes, sizes and textures and materials, the model aims at introducing children to all sensory experiences, while also integrating games inspired by the Montessori learning.
Final Site of Intervention (reach and user group):
The program aims at providing a learning, building and playing environment for children aged from six to eight years. This kit of parts is more of an incremental design, with basic blocks and the framework for the molds provided by the architect, with opportunities for children to build and experience an ever growing environment. Using the materials which are used on a daily basis in the urban fabric, namely Earth, Concrete, Fabric and Timber, the design proposal aims at introducing kids to the ‘real’ materials (as Aldo Van Eyck would put it), providing them with a sense of familiarity, while also using their mass as a tool to help develop their motor skills and muscular strength.
The kit of parts would be available in various sizes, with the base blocks - designed by the architects as the starting points or direction pointers for the kids to add onto. Depending on the available area, these kits could be customized and the necessary units could be purchased. With opportunities to expand the design both horizontally as well as vertically, this learning environment could be accommodated as per the area constraints.