Abstract
M.Tech. (Architectural Technology)
The inner city space is a living and working locale for
diverse population groups. The central business district
provides job opportunities for a multitude of skilled and
unskilled workers who either live in the city or who
commute from outlying areas and suburbs. In other words,
it serves many purposes for many people. Yet it is rarely
acknowledged as an appropriate space for young children.
Reality, however, shows that children should and are
accommodated within the inner city. They are part of the
families that engage with the city on a daily basis.
The research question addressed by this study mainly
concerns how the architecture should respond to a situation
which acknowledges the presence of children in the
inner city in a way that is not only safe and secure but also
draws on the unique learning experiences that the city
offers. In this respect there are endless possibilities for
discovery and sensory exploration. The city is a sensory
cornucopia, of sorts. The challenge is therefore to create
a relationship between the pre-school and the city that is
symbiotic. Because life is the generator of the city,
children add another layer to its intriguing complexities. In
return, the city provides exciting educational experiences
which "have the potential to ensure that memories are
made and remembered.
An urban preschool is not typified by the way it mirrors the
urban context or incorporates it thematically, but by the
way it engages and becomes part of its pattern
language. Existing boundaries which are often restrictive
and prescriptive are deconstructed and reconstructed,
and, in doing so, the identity and the conventional stereotype
of the urban preschool is redefined.
The challenge that this study purports to address is to
create a balance between two realms: the preschool as a
place of ultimate safety and the public realm as a place
of ultimate freedom. It takes into consideration how these
issues have been addressed locally and overseas from the
point of educational principles and, specifically, how the
architecture supports and incorporates these principals
within the urban context. Such an exploration of factors
that typify an urban preschool (as opposed to the more
familiar suburban model) will culminate in the development
of a preschool that is completely context specific,
especially with regard to the sensory references in the city.