Being a parent in the architectural industry makes you view the normal built environment from a completely different perspective. Whether it’s the imminent need for a changing room on the go, a play area that fits the requirements of a toddler, infrastructure in your neighborhood that is universal and easily accessible for parents and their children, responding to the built environment through the lens of motherhood is a completely unnerving experience. This stimulus is not only felt by the parents who have a strong response to the architecture around them but the architectural response given by architects and designers as a potential solution to their needs can be seen as an imaginative play by the architects where plenty of thinking out of the box and pushing unconventional ideas is the way to go.
1_Family Outdoor_artVERB
As a parent, one of the most frequently used spaces by parents and children alike are play areas. Whether these types of spaces are outdoors or indoors, the need for such spaces as an outlet for children and toddlers to exhaust their unending energies is rightly felt by parents. The architectural design behind such spaces needs to be universally inclusive for children of all abilities, easily accessible, inviting, and most importantly provide safety.
Play areas need to be spaces that are designed in a manner that children and parents alike are naturally gravitated towards. Through the lens of motherhood, one of the first aspects that they consider before coming in to use such spaces is accessibility. How easy will it be for them to reach the play area, unfold a stroller perhaps and then gather up their child/children before utilizing the space? Giving ample parking spaces, seating for adults, necessary signage, and water stations are a few considerations that must be made whilst designing such spaces. Another important aspect would be parent rooms as spaces of respite for the families as well. These parent rooms can also be used to change and nurse children as well.
2_Playground Ideas
Another aspect that parents pay attention to is the extent to which such play areas consider the needs of children with different abilities. This can include both mental and physical constraints that may differ per child. Having an area that focuses on intersections of spaces that do not segregate such children from able-bodied ones is another aspect that should be considered. Having a rock-climbing wall that has different levels of difficulty for different users alongside plenty of cubby houses and sandpits are a few examples of different spaces that parents may envision.
Having a natural ‘flow’ of space in such areas helps mothers to navigate with their children better. In-play areas, having this organic flow in spatial zoning will not only help the parents to navigate better and keep an eye on their children whilst socializing themselves but will avoid traffic jams in the play area and help children explore the area better. As architects and designers, providing direct entrances that relate to clear pathways to the playing spaces with subtle diversions that can help users navigate towards secondary playing spaces helps to enhance the free flow of space as well.
Apart from play areas, parents need to be able to enjoy public infrastructure with their children without any apprehension as well. Having sufficient pathways with enough space to walk with their children while using strollers is something urban planners need to consider while designing streets and open spaces such as parks and walking tracks. Having user-friendly options for parents while going on hiking tracks alongside services such as public restrooms with facilities for children is also an aspect that should be considered by designers as well.
3_Brimbank Park Playscape_Timeout
The lens of motherhood scrutinizes architectural spaces from all angles and perspectives, whether tangible or intangible. It is interesting to note that parents would like to target spaces that instigate the creative side of their children. Perhaps for some parents, they would like to take their children to spaces that are well-lit, colorful, and incorporate variety in materiality in their design. Such spaces also promote the creative side of children, an important developmental tool in their child’s overall progress. Another obvious preference for parents would be the incorporation of nature in such spaces where designers work with nature and not against it. Not only does direct contact with nature provide parents and children with an odd sense of calm that perhaps they cannot attain in their otherwise busy lives, but it gives the architectural response a more relatable feel for parents and children alike.
Motherhood although seemingly associated with tasks that one may not correlate with something as professional as architecture, its presence cannot be overlooked. Mothers formulate as one of the core users of architectural spaces and their response to such spaces that will be used by them, and their children are of utmost importance. As architects, urban planners, landscape designers, or even interior designers, understanding their point of view and user needs is imperative. It is an ideology that must be considered whilst perceiving any type of space that can potentially be used by them.