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Scapegoat Architecture/Landscape/Political Economy Issue 01 Service 6 Kids on Buildings: Art Gallery of Ontario, Ontario College of Art and Design, and Environs reviewed by Hannah Alincy and Jonah Bachtiar Kids on Buildings engages kids in conversation about architecture and the city. There are stark differences between the design logic of professionals and the thoughts and actions of a young public for whom some of these spaces are ostensibly designed. This conversation took place at two of Toronto’s iconic architecture sites: the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) designed by Gehry Partners, and the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) designed by Alsop Architects. What follows is an imaginative remaking and inhabitation of these spaces with correspondents Jonah Bachtiar, age 10, and Hannah Alincy, age 11. SCAPEGOAT SAYS: When people design, who do they design for? Hannah: I want them to design for whatever they want, like, I don’t really care. Jonah: Me too. SS: For whatever the designer wants? H, J: Yeah. SS: Designing for people or other animals and plants? H: A little bit of everything. SS: Do you ever feel like you’re in a designed space where you can’t do what you want to do? J: Sometimes when I’m in a movie theatre and it’s like a 2-hourmovie and I’ve seen like three-quarters of it I’m kind of like, “Oh geez—I just want to run around and stuff.” SS: Can you think of other spaces that are not as fun as they could be? fig. 1 H: Yeah, like school trips. Like on your way to one, when you’re in the bus you have to sit there for hours...It’s sooo boring! SS: Do you like to look out the window? H: Not when you see it more than once and it’s the same thing. (Recalling a trip) ‘Cause it was mostly just grass. Trees. There wasn’t anything. OC AD SS: What do you think of this space? H: You could do whatever you want here! I feel like climbing that. SS: Are you ever scared this building will fall? H: No. J: Only if I lie down. For example, if you’re right here, and your feet are exactly like this (lays down on grass and places feet on colourful column). It’s like, “Oh my god, it’s going to fall on me!” Whenever you lie down and your feet start touching the building you feel like it’s going to fall on you. Whenever I see a new building I try that. (fig. 1) H: I want to climb something. (Looks up) SS: Why do you think they put the building up so high? H: So they have more space. SS: More space where? H: You could put something under it, but there’s nothing there. J: Nothing... SS: But don’t you think people still like to hang out there? J: Well, yeah but it would be more surprising if you could hang out in something. Grange Park Playground SS: Do you like playgrounds? J, H: Yeahhh... (H esitantly) SS: Could this one be better designed? H: Like bigger stuff. Way bigger stuff! J: Look at that...look at that! This is messed up. (Points to slide) SS: What’s wrong with it? H: It’s small. J: And boring. SS: What would you do to make a way better playground? H: You know what I want? I’d like a big-big-big-big-bigbig-big-big-big-big slide and then it goes weeeeeeeeee... ( Gestures with hands) J: Also, the slides are too close together. If it was wider it would be more surprising. More fun. Maybe a slide that connects you to that? (Points to OCAD) H: Watch out, I’m coming down! (Slides down) It’s slow. J: This is slow...(Angrily) I’m going down! (Slides down) It smells like urine in there. Schools SS: How would you redesign your school? J: Okay, classrooms would have trampolines and your chair and your desks would be made of something that’s more exciting than wood! H: There would be murals everywhere. And then you’d have a robot to tell you all the answers for tests... And a robot teacher. SS: Isn’t that what they call “a computer” though? H: No, you still gotta wait for it...type-typetype...and then wait till it loads again. J: It’s so exhausting pushing your finger on a button. H: No, I like buttons— I want a big button. Buttons are fun! Review Kids on Buildings
Scapegoat Architecture/Landscape/Political Economy Issue 01 Service 7 J: Imagine if that whole thing turned into a button (points to concrete pool in park), like, a pressingbutton. SS: ...And would you need a lot of people to press it? J: No, it’d be light. H: You have to have a big red button, okay, a big tall button: Jump on it and some random thing pops up! SS: Because you want something surprising? J: Yeah. H: And something to jump on. J: I like jumping. SS: What else would you change in your schools? J: Hallways... H: They’re so boring. Hallways are so boring; they are so straight. Lines are boring. J: In schools you would get your own tubing-raft-thing, and it has a floor so that water didn’t get through and then you walk out of the classroom and you’re in the water and you get to ride until your next class. D o g s SS: How do you imagine a space designed for dogs? J: Dogs, they get their own private room, not just a small, dumb doghouse. (Pets a dog in the park) H: They should get their own bed… J: …They should get their own room. SS: Where, in a house? J: Wherever you live, in that place...They get their own room with a bath that you walk in. fig. 2 SS: Do you think dogs would want a space that’s similar to a space you have, or not? J: Yes: they like to run! H: Yes, ‘cause you know most dogs take over your own chair or your own house. SS: So what else would you do if you were to design a house for dogs? H: You know how you see a normal little dog house, and then you go inside and there’s a disco party— Wooo!— and a dog bar. SS: A Doggie Disco. H: Wooo! Oh yeah! J: DJ Doggie… (fig. 2) H: ...And then you see DJ Doggie with headphones and he’s doin’ “POMM! Shooo, POM-POM-POM, shooo, POMM! Shooo, POM-POM-POM, shooo...” J: ...And his microphone is connected to a biscuit. Usually dogs don’t talk unless they find a stranger or they’re going to get food. So they talk when there’s a biscuit connected to the mic. H: ...And there’s a dog marathon where they have to run and then they jump and at the end they have a cocktail… J: A track-and-field in their Doggie-homes… H: …So those would be Doggie-schools where they graduate. A G O Atrium SS: What do you thinks of this space? H: It’s boring. J: Big. H: Boring but big—it’s just stairs, and wood. SS: What’s the most fun material to use? H: I want it to be Bubbles. J: Foam, Styrofoam... Did you know bubble wrap was originally created as wallpaper? SS: No way, really? J: Don’t you love bubble wrap dances? SS: Yes! How about dancing with other materials like straws, all over the ground? J: You’re trying to use it and then you slip extra. So if you want to do a slipping move, don’t even try…it will do it for you! AGO Promenade (Galleria Italia) SS: What do you think about this space? H: I think they copied the ROM [Royal Ontario Museum]. The ROM looks kind of similar, but it’s smaller. They used the screenthing. I don’t like the ROM thing. J: I feel queasy…how is this possible? It’s creating weight on one side but not on the other and it’s still not falling. You just want a dramatic effect (pretends he knows someone outside on the street and waves), you want to be recognized but you don’t realize that this is a window. And you jump off: “I forgot my parachute!” H: There’s a thing in front of it so it doesn’t work. (Points to the structure) They shouldn’t have put that there, it doesn’t make the illusion. Henry Moore Gallery J: This is creepy. SS: Ha ha. What’s creepy about it? J: I feel like it’s monsters trying to kill me—and then use me in some science experiment. SS: What do you think art is? How would you define it? H: Anything. J: Undescribable. SS: What do you think of abstract art? J: You mean that stuff that kind of looks like what you did in kindergarten? H: They think they do whatever they want, and then when they’re done they try to figure out what it is. At the end. SS: After they finish. H: They’re like, “Okay, now I have to figure it out. Umm...maybe that could be—wait! No, I don’t think so...I don’t know.” J: Are those drums? Boom-Boom, ba-doom. Boom Boom, ba-doom. Weird Art SS: What would make this space more fun? H: Colour. J: I wish you could yell. H: Shhh...We’re in a museum. (Whispering) SS: Why do you think people are quiet in a museum? J: To admire. SS: What makes artwork interesting for you? H: I like it ‘cause it’s weird. If it’s weird and you could do something on it. SS: If you could play on it? H: That would be awesome. Comfortable Art J: What’s up with these things? This doesn’t look so comfortable (sits in chair). Arrgh! Not very comfortable, this thing is kind of sharp. SS: It was designed by Frank Gehry... J: Does he work for art or comfort? SS: What’s more important? J: Comfort. H: What if it was comfortable art that you could sit on? And then what if it’s art and a chair, and there’s a big chair and I’m like: “Oh, this one’s comfy!” But someone says, “You’re not allowed to sit on it because it’s art.” “It’s a chair...” It’s like: “It’s art.” “It’s a Chair!” J: Did you know that one time I was on a couch and then I fell asleep, and I fell off and went headfirst! Jonah Bachtiar, 10, is a grade 4 student and enjoys playing baseball and hanging out with friends in his parents’ basement. Hannah Alincy, 11, likes to draw. Her favourite space in her house is her room. A special thanks to Kristina Ljubanovic for her help with this article. Review Kids on Buildings
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