PLAYGROUND AS CITY PROJECT
The Playground in My Dreams
A playground is designed with İzmir University of Economics 62 students from Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design and 77 students from Department of Architecture, 38 students from School of Işıkkent. In the project that lasted two weeks, 15 different play structure proposals came out. Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design lecturer Asst. Prof. Deniz Hasırcı said that the students of the two departments worked together for the first time for such a big event. He also stated that they were planning this project for a long time with Department of Architecture academicians Dr. Burkay Pasin and Selma Göker Wilson and they aimed to make the students of these two professions get used to each other since they would work together after graduation.
Hasırcı said that the designers were not giving the right to speak to the potential users of a place however with a “user-oriented” design approach the designer could progress faster and these processes would contribute to the budget and influencing the users with the design would bring a feeling of trust and responsibility. Hasırcı underlined the fact that especially while designing places for the children, the children were not asked about their opinions however, in a rapidly changing world the assumptions we made about the children could be wrong and effected the growing of the child in a negative way and the designer could create places far from creativity. Creative results came out in the process that continued with seminars and evaluation juries.
After planning the project, they contacted with Head of Department of Painting and Ceramics Umut Karatepe from the School of Işıkkent and they quickly initiated the design process with five students from each two departments and two students from 4th grade. In this process, fieldwork, painting, and model making studies are made at Işıkkent Campus. The children are asked how and where in the schoolyard they were playing, how they spent their time in the breaks. After the first ideas are suggested, the students of two departments continued to work together. They went to the school a week later and presented their projects. IUE students said that the demands of the little students forced them but they experienced an educative process. The little students were surprised and happy after seeing the designs and many of them stated that they would like to be a designer in the future.
Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design academicians Asst. Prof. Deniz Hasırcı, Sedef Akad, Rana Vanlı, Zeynep Edes, Didem Özdel, Ayçe Döşemeciler, Seren Borvalı and Department of Architecture academicians Buket Ilter Alper, Burkay Pasin, Erguvan Özgür Ünal, Özgür Genca, Selma Göker, Ürün Demir, Gregor Weiss and School of Işıkkent painting teacher Umut Karatepe had the chance to work together in a participant project. The School of Işıkkent will evaluate which design will be implemented. The project is not just educational but it is also planned to be an academic publishing. The models, posters, and research processes of the projects will be exhibited at İzmir University of Economics with photographs from March 9 to 18.
