Investigation of Indicators Affecting the Design of Elementary Schools and Children's Creativity Centers with Emphasis on Promoting Environmental Quality and Increasing the Social Skills of Children

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 M.A. of Architecture, Faculty of Art and Architecture, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran (Corresponding Author).

2 Professor of Architecture and Urban Planning, Faculty of Art and Architecture, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

10.22034/aaud.2023.347798.2681

Abstract

Modern society must encourage creative children to do its activities. Many studies have examined this topic over recent years, but the effect of architectural space design on creativity flourishing has received less attention. Hence, this study aims to identify the indicators affecting creativity and skill training among children. The main purpose of this study is to create a space for intellectual growth and flourishing social skills in children of the 2-10 age range, motivate inner challenges, challenge attitudes, and develop skills, and examine the role of education and the effect of architecture on the educational environment. The key question of this study is whether the indicators affecting the design of the elementary school and children's creativity center can improve creativity and increase social skills in the educational environment. This study used a descriptive-analytical method and collected data through the documentary method, interview (questionnaire), field visits, and observation. The questions of the questionnaire are distributed among statistical society (ordinary individuals, trainers, children's parents), and the hypotheses are designed and evaluated then the findings are analyzed based on the effective indicators for designing elementary schools and creativity centers by using analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to identify and prioritize the elements, SWOT to evaluate strengths and weaknesses, SPSS software for statistical analysis, and EXCEL software to divide and organize the results. Ultimately, it was concluded physical indicators and natural factors of the outside environments, cultural and social variables, and favorite architectural elements of children in addition to architectural design and creating legibility in design facilitate creativity and social skills. Regarding the design components of child space in the selected settings, it was found that design components have a positive effect on creativity growth and skill training among children. Moreover, research hypotheses that aim to confirm the effect of physical components of child space on activity development and skill training were realized.

Keywords


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