2024 - Light Painting, Kids’ Adventure

Design Background：
As society and science progress, Chinese families increasingly value early childhood education, with preschool enrollment reaching 91.1% in 2023. However, this progress brings challenges.
Firstly, kindergarten dismissal times often don’t align with parents’ work schedules. Most kindergartens dismiss between 4:00 PM and 5:00 PM, while many parents work until 5:00 PM or later. This mismatch forces children to wait alone at kindergartens, sometimes needing after-school care, which can lead to feelings of loneliness and anxiety.
Secondly, the pressure for kindergartens to enhance their reputations has led to the early introduction of primary school curricula, disrupting children’s development. This can negatively impact their interest in learning, mental health, and vision. Extended reading and writing can increase myopia risk during crucial vision development stages. Moreover, children are often confined indoors, limiting their exposure to natural light, which helps prevent myopia. The use of monochromatic educational materials can also hinder visual stimulation, essential for cognitive development.
To address these issues, we propose ”Light Painting， Kids’ Adventure,” a design for a companionable waiting space for children. This interactive, dynamic lighting alleviates loneliness and anxiety while colorful visuals protect eyesight and promote brain development. The space includes games involving running, jumping, crawling, and climbing, offering a fun environment where children can grow through play and social interaction.rough play and social interaction.

Light Storage – Photoluminescent Glass：
To create vibrant lighting in dim environments, light storage is essential. We chose photoluminescent glass, which stores light when exposed and releases it gradually in darkness. This material allows light to excite electrons, temporarily storing them and slowly releasing them for prolonged glow.
For safety, we enhanced the photoluminescent glass by combining it with tempered glass and adding an EVA interlayer. This makes it durable and safe for children, ensuring a secure and engaging play environment.

Wind Capture – Wind Motion Films：
Children’s play, inherently unpredictable, mirrors nature’s ever-changing elements like light and wind. To infuse our lighting design with the essence of wind, we employ lightweight PET circular films overlaid with transparent PVC laser film. These films, set in overlapping layers, respond to human movement by rotating, altering light angles. This dynamic interaction creates a mesmerizing display of colorful ripples, inviting children to engage actively with the installation, fostering creativity and exploration in their play.

Flowing Space-Space Design：
The plan utilizes a 1.5-metre-high wall and a suspension bridge at one end of the kindergarten building, enclosing the area to create a centralized waiting space, facilitating supervision during dismissal and serving as a resting area for observing wall projections at night. On the opposite side, a low wall forms a fluid space, offering multiple visual communication windows, aligning with children’s activity needs. A slightly elevated suspension bridge in the middle divides the two spaces, maintaining spatial continuity while providing an overlook for adult supervision.