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According to Proshansky, Fabian,
and Kaminof, the child psychologists,
"Certain spaces and places,
because they are ‘owned’, familiar,
and useful and can be controlled,
satisfy and maintain the integrity of
the child’s sense of self, including
the definition of that self."
The control of space is concretized
when the child perceives from the
path neutral objects inside that he
has no control over from the outside.
The transparent container disappears
(is no more perceived) as the
child gets within the physical space.
As he plays, wanders, and fantasizes
within the mitochondrion, the
objects contained are controlled by
the child's actions and space indulgence
and perception. The object
contained becomes imprinted on the
child as long as he plays within the
space, sees the object moving, and
creates a corner for his exhibition
place and for his privacy.
The path connects with two
entrances for the project, which are
provided to facilitate the process of
sorting the children on their way to
the inside, according to the criteria of
number and character.
The in-project entrance filters children
according to age on the basis of
Piaget's stages of child development:
➠ Zone 1: age 0 to 3
➠ Zone 2: age 3 to 7
➠ Zone 3: age 7 to 12
Zone 1, age 0 to 3: sensorial-motor
stage of child development:
Children at this early age are characterized
by 1) inability to represent
three-dimensional objects, 2)
unawareness of object permanence,
3) little motor competence, 4) awareness
of images and faces, 5) no
awareness of time and space and 6)
no spatial coding.
The zone is constituted of an ellipse
elongated and without an edge, having
the same touch along the peripheral
envelope, uninterrupted space,
a free plan with no separation, and
orientation by the child himself by a
landmark, "the Duffy".
The Duffy is situated in front of the
entrance. It is constituted of planes
separated by an empty physical
space. As the child enters and starts
moving along the elliptical periphery,
the Duffy starts to separate. The
combination of Duffy 2-dimensional
images forms the whole, and the
combination of two consecutive 2-d
images provide a useful space to
play in. The assimilation between
the two consecutive images and the
useful space introduces the awareness
of the three-dimensional object
that has width, depth, and height.
The concavity of the ellipse in the
vertical and horizontal planes provides
a physical obstacle between
the adult supervisor and the child.
The adult has to go down on his or
her knees and lean down in order to
invade the child's space.
Zone 2, age 3 to 7: pre-operational
stage of child development:
Children at this age are characterized
by 1) unawareness of the principal
of conservation, 2) the use of
symbols and make-believe, 3) egocentricity
and little capacity for logical
thought
An ascending ramp is provided to
enable the child between age 3 and
age 12 to reach its physical setting.
Moreover, the child has to pass over
a bridge above zone 1 to arrive there.
The bridging ramp that is recommended
by child psychiatrists fosters
the child’s sense of self. It develops
the sense of challenge and
strengthens self-esteem. It develops
a sense of the force of gravity and
improves balance.
The development of logical thought
is highly dependent on logico-mathematical
classification, seriation and
the concept of number.
The physical setting is constituted of
unit objects that are assimilated
together in a geometrical manner.
This assimilation is based upon the
articulation of solid and void to form
the object contained.
Perceiving and manipulation of unit
objects with other unit objects develops
the concepts used in logical
thought. Perceiving and experimenting
depends on the manipulation
and seriation of unit objects.
This idea is based upon the theory of
cognitive development elaborated
by Piaget.
Zone 3, age 7 to 12: concrete operational
stage of child development:
During this stage, children are characterized
by 1) a more logical manner
of thinking, 2) a start to overcom
ing egocentricity, 3) learning the
idea of reversibility, 4) conceptualizing
in the mind without seeing the
action, and 5) a better understanding
of time and place, but 6) a continued
limitation of powers of abstract
thinking.
The zone devoted to them establishes
a relation between object and
trace and discontinuity between
objects. Objects (physical settings)
are arranged along the vertical plan
to constitute a grid in the vertical
plan. Physical settings for encountering
an activity tend to disappear
and reappear in different horizontal
plans of different levels. A stairway
46 NNU SPIRIT