R SEA E R C H B O O K KID FICTION Sweta Solai Sanker RCA ADS4 2021 / 22
@swetects An Army of Frogs Digital art, 21.0 cm x 29.7 cm ADS4’s brief this year, entitled ‘Party Animals’, focuses on the potential of parties as a means of political and logical resistance against society’s preconceived notion of everyday life. The first task, entitled 'Party Venues' embodied the studio's interest in alternative forms of collective gathering. Using a medium of choice, the task required the design of a spatial venue that could house an animal of choice, based on its respective collective noun.
CONTENTS 06 The overlooked 36 Methods of assessment 56 Collecting data 72 Case studies 82 Design context
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UN x Coco Pops Task: Party Invite Cereal box, 9.67cm x 11.0cm x 8.6cm
'Who are the uninvited, forgotten, excluded guests from the party? Who does not have a seat at the so-called table? Through the use of the term ‘party’, ADS4’s brief this year places a particular emphasis on considering groups and collectives of people. Through identifying who is excluded (either intentionally or unintentionally), the studio seeks to consider how architectural and spatial strategies can be used for building more inclusive and equitable worlds.' 1
Matteo Mastrandrea, Nicola Koller and Tom Greenall, Part 05: Missing Parts (London: 2022). 1
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THE OVERLOOKED
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IN 1989, under the ‘United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC)’ virtually every country in the world agreed that children have rights to a clean environment to live in, clean air to breathe, water to drink and food to eat - irrespective of their nationality and citizenship.2 Children were also assured rights to learn, relax and play.
IN 2021, UNICEF released a report entitled ‘The Climate Change Crisis is a Child Rights Crisis’ “It is creating a water crisis, a health crisis, an education crisis, a protection crisis and a participation crisis. It is threatening children’s very survival. In all these ways, it is infringing on children’s rights – as outlined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.” 3
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CHRONOLOGICAL TIMELINE ESTABLISHING THE UN CRC
1919 /
1923 /
LONDON
GENEVA
Eglantyne Jebb launches the 'Save the Children Fund' at the Royal Albert Hall to help raise money for German and Austrian children suffering from the aftermath of World War One and the Allied blockade.
Eglantyne Jebb drafts and publishes the first ever written document promoting child rights, known as the 'Declaration of the Rights of the Child' through her organisation. The document addresses the need to put children first above all else through its five terms, which read; 01 The child must be given the means requisite for its normal development, both materially and spiritually.
FIGURE 1
The Royal Albert Hall hosting the launch of Save the Children on 19 May 1919
1920 / GENEVA After the success of Jebb’s initial fund-raiser, she and her sister, Dorothy, set up the 'International Save the Children Union' to help distressed children on an international scale.
02 The child that is hungry must be fed, the child that is sick must be nursed, the child that is backward must be helped, the delinquent child must be reclaimed, and the orphan and the waif must be sheltered and succoured. 03 The child must be the first to receive relief in times of distress. 04 The child must be put in a position to earn a livelihood, and must be protected against every form of exploitation. 05 The child must be brought up in the consciousness that its talents must be devoted to the service of its fellow men.
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1924 / GENEVA The League of Nations General Assembly ratifies the 'Declaration of the Rights of the Child' and titles it as the 'Geneva Declaration'.
1959 /
FIGURE 2
NEW YORK
1989 /
The United Nations General Assembly officially ratifies the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. Up till this point in time however, the term 'child' was loosely used to describe an individual who may benefit from having his rights protected under this treaty.
NEW YORK In conjunction with the 30th anniversary of the 'Declaration of the Rights of the Child', the United Nations General Assembly ratifies the Convention on the Rights of the Child and defines a child as any individual below the age of 18. The UN CRC becomes the most widely ratified treaty in the world with 194 countries as 'state parties'.
1990 / NEW YORK First ever World Summit for Children held at the UN headquarters in New York.
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FIGURE 3
World Summit for Children, UN Headquarters, New York City
On the 30th of September in 1990, the United Nations held its first ever world summit in the name of children at its headquarters in New York. This was a pivotal moment in history in which it was agreed upon by over 150 state and country leaders that all children were assured a basic set of rights and they were to be listened to and valued when any decision was to be made. 4
In terms of the contents of the UN CRC itself, during discussions, several of the delegates from the Global South expressed dissatisfaction that the drafting group was ‘predominantly Western in its orientation’, and argued that greater account should have been taken ‘of the cultural diversity and economic realities of developing countries’.5
This summit was exclusive to invited state leaders, who demographically, represent a very particular group of adults in a position of authority and power. Children therefore, who were the prime focus of the conversation were nowhere to be seen or heard.
The crucial issue about some of these more strident efforts to enforce the Convention is that the focus is on whether countries are complying or meeting their obligations rather than whether or not children are better off as a result of intervention.
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FIGURE 4
Rights that every child is entitled to according to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989
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NETWORK DIAGRAM ANALYSIS OF UN CRC RIGHTS
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INJUSTICE In 2021, UNICEF introduced a new scale of measure known as ‘The Children’s Climate Risk Index (CCRI)’ 6 in its report entitled ‘The Climate Change Crisis is a Child Rights Crisis’. This index ranks countries based on how vulnerable children are to environmental stresses and extreme weather conditions, such as heatwaves, cyclones, air pollution, flooding and water scarcity. The findings from this report show that almost every child on earth is exposed to at least one of these climate and environmental hazards.7 According to the CCRI, a record-breaking 850 million children, which is approximately one-third of all children on earth, are exposed to four or more of these stresses on an increasingly frequent scale – proving to create incredibly challenging environments for children to live, play and grow up in as intended.8 Based on this report, children in low and middle-income countries, such as the Central African Republic, Chad, Nigeria and Guinea, will continue to bear the heaviest and earliest burdens of these dangerous climate crisis impacts.9 The climate change crisis therefore continues to expose the ways in which we choose to disregard and discredit the needs and the voices of the people who have contributed the least to the problem at hand.
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Severity key Extremely high High Medium – High Low – Medium Low
FIGURE 5
The Children’s Climate Risk Index (CCRI) August 2021
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EXCERPTS FROM UNICEF'S REPORT 'THE CLIMATE CHANGE CRISIS IS A CHILD RIGHTS CRISIS'
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MALAYSIA
FIGURE 6
Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013 “Every Malaysian child deserves equal access to an education that will enable that child to achieve his or her potential. The Ministry thus aspires to ensure universal access and full enrolment of all children from preschool through to upper secondary school level by 2020.” 10
FIGURE 7
Floods in Peninsular Malaysia 2021 "113 schools put out of action by floods" 11 "All my kids’ school items destroyed in Johor floods" 12 18 | 2022
MADAGASCAR
FIGURE 8
Concluding Observations to Madagascar 2012 "The Committee on the Rights of the Child, cited birth registration as a significant challenge and expressed concerns at the low levels of birth registration. However, the Committee acknowledged that progress was made through the National Programme for Rehabilitating Birth Registration." 13
FIGURE 9
Lack of official documentation at birth posing identity risks 2021 "The dropout rate increases when children enter an exam class because this document is required for official exams." 14 ADS4 | 19
PARTY POLITICS As no other economic body sees a monetary gain in listening to the needs of children, they are often overlooked and forgotten in the majority of decision making processes. Protagonist: Children Antagonist: Lawmakers Mentor: Education Side kick: Social media Merchant: None
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Parents resort to becoming the intermediary individual responsible for providing for and shaping almost every aspect of a minor's life, due to the way in which our political and economic systems work. The prime example being late night television advertisements for new toys during Christmas time, which are targeted at adults who have nearly all the purchasing power to influence the trends of the gift giving season.
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“ Since I was 10, I have always st
up my voice just to get even a sin attention from a decision-maker.
We are here, we are smart, and solutions. I am young but climate put more on my plate; more is ex of me. I imagine a world where e included in crucial decision-makin Nkosilathi Nyathi, 18, Zimbabwe UNICEF, The Climate Crisis is a Child Rights Crisis: Introducing the Children’s Climate Risk Index (New York: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 2021) p. 45.
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trived to lift ngle moment’s
we have the e change has xpected out every child is ng.
THE GLOBAL DILEMMA Based on a global poll conducted by the UN, almost 48 per cent of young people do not believe that decision-makers in their city or community are willing to listen to any of their opinions. 15 Restrictions that equate age with experience allow for almost no exceptions when it comes to youth and child involvement in politics and policy making, irrespective of their upbringing. Under these laws, a child brought up in a safe, protected environment in Washington is given the same amount of agency as a child from Chad who is on the front lines of fighting to prevent deforestation and his indigenous land rights from being exploited.
“
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FIGURE 10
Mapped voting age restrictions across the world
"A voting age is a minimum age established by law that a person must attain before they become eligible to vote in a public election." 16 The only known maximum voting age is in the Holy See, where the franchise for electing a new Pope in the Papal Conclave is restricted to Cardinals under the age of 80.
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Voting age 21 20 19 18 17 16
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FIGURE 11
Mapped ages of majority across the world
"The age of majority is the threshold of adulthood as recognized or declared in law. It is the moment when minors cease to be considered such and assume legal control over their persons, actions, and decisions, thus terminating the control and legal responsibilities of their parents or guardian over them." 17
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Ages of majority 21 20 19 18 17 16
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“
A RIGGED SYSTEM
It is estimated that between 2015 to 2050, the overall world population of people over 60 will double from 12% to 22% 18 In 2020, the number of people above 60 has already outnumbered those below the age of 5 19
As David Runciman explains in his podcast ‘Talking Politics’20, the world and the way in which our systems work are significantly geared to favour the older generation. He explains how our democratic system is so rigged that we would need to lower the voting age to 6 years of age to even allow for a fair chance for the younger generation to have their opinions and votes be heard as the majority21. Given that there is no upper limit to the voting age globally, our political systems are therefore heavily age biased, discounting the fact that some children have experienced and seen far worse than any of us have in our lives. Since children do not have the same legal and political standing as adults do in our legislative system, they often do not have a platform to have their voices heard. Our system therefore hugely contradicts what was agreed upon 30 years ago by the UN, where every child was assured their right to have their opinions heard on issues that particularly affect them, like climate change, the design of their cities and the candidates in charge of making decisions about their future.
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FIGURE 12
Flood victims of Malaysia 2015 - 2022
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“
Many presume to know much about children because they have all been children but we have been prepped to enter a world built for adults – ‘you’ll understand when you get older’ ‘not now, you’re too young’ The central premise here is that ‘child’ is not a natural or universal category, predetermined by biology, nor is it something with a fixed meaning. On the contrary, childhood is historically, culturally and socially variable. It is a truism that ‘child’ and childhood are best understood within a cultural context and to attempt to universalise the concept child is a misrepresentation of the world of children. 22
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A CULTURAL DISPARITY In most modern societies, decisions are always made on behalf of children as they are deemed to be too ‘immature’ and playful to be given a seat at any decision-making table. This accepted exclusion of children from politics is merely a product of cultural assumption about the disparity between adulthood and childhood. As a case study, several marginalised communities of collective life that choose to define the metrics of maturity and decision making in a completely different manner when compared to those in the West have been studied.
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FIGURE 13
Children from the Beng tribe of the Ivory Coast
The Beng tribe23 from the Ivory Coast have very particular beliefs about how children are perceived and thought of from the moment they are born. The people of the Beng tribe believe in a spirit world where children live before they are born and where they are known to know all human languages and understand all cultures. 'Life in this spirit world is said to be very pleasant and the children are often very reluctant to leave it for an earthly family.' 24 When they are born, they are said to remain in contact with this other world for several years, and may
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decide to return there if they are not properly looked after. 'So parents treat young children with great care so that they’re not tempted to return, and also with some reverence, because they’re in contact with the spirit world in a way in which adults never can be.' 25 The Beng tribe therefore believes that the kids are on a spiritually and hierarchical higher level compared to adults. Adults therefore heavily respect and listen to what their kids need whilst trying their absolute best to provide them with the most basic of rights because they believe that the children can choose to leave back to the spiritual world if they are not valued by their family members.
FIGURE 14
Children from the Igbo tribe of Nigeria
The Igbo tribe from Nigeria believe that 'from the age of about three years, the Ibo child is reckoned as sufficiently advanced to be left more or less to its own devices. It begins to consort freely with children of its own age or company (otu) and to take its share in work and play.' 26 The Igbo tribe therefore formally acknowledges that as soon as a child can walk, talk and eat on its own, they are culturally recognised as an individual that is fully capable of contributing to their community and society in any way they deem possible. They are left to independently define their working and social boundaries with little to no interference from the older generation.
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FIGURE 15
Children from the Semai tribe of Peninsular Malaysia
The Semai indigenous tribe from Peninsular Malaysia identifies children as individual beings from the moment they are born. This tribe believes that children learn about their environment through their individual experiences of it. The children are therefore left to explore and experiment on their own as a form of growing up, with little to no guidance from the older generation. “Semai emphatically deny that they teach their children. A man might say, “We don’t worry about our children. We don’t mess with them. They grow up here in the jungle like animals. We look after ourselves, they look after themselves.” 27
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FIGURE 16
Children from the San tribe of Southern Africa
The San, who are a hunter-gatherer tribe in Southern Africa believes that the relationship between children and adults is easygoing and unselfconscious. The organization of work, leisure, and living space is such that there is no reason for confining children or excluding them from certain activities. The adults of the San do not believe that there should be a distinction between the responsibilities of an adult and a child. Children are therefore encouraged to wander around and take part in everyday activities carried out by the tribe, such as hunting, gathering and cooking.
"Everyone lives on the flat surface of the ground; hence there is no need to protect children from falls or from becoming entrapped behind doors. With the exception of spears and poisoned arrows, adult tools do not constitute a hazard to children. Those weapons are simply kept hanging in trees or wedged on top of a hut, safely out of reach. When the men are making spear and arrow points, they do not attempt to exclude children … from the area" 28 (Draper 1976: 205-6).
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METHODS OF ASSESSMENT
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“
To the extent adulthood itself is valued as a symbol of completeness and as an end-product of growth or development, childhood is seen as an imperfect transitional state on the way to adulthood, normality, full socialization and humanness. This is the theory of progress as applied to the individual life-cycle. The result is the frequent use of childhood as a design of cultural and political immaturity or, it comes to the same thing, inferiority. Much of the pull of the ideology of colonialism and much of the power of the idea of modernity can be traced to the evolutionary implications of the concept of the child in the Western worldview. Ashis Nandy (1987: 57)
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METHODS OF ASSESSMENT OF UN CRC KidsRightsIndex The KidsRightsIndex29 is a global ranking system that values countries based on how children’s rights are respected nationwide and to what extent each country is committed to improving the rights of children. The Index is made up of evaluating 5 particular domains which include the right to life, right to health, right to education, right to protection and the right of enabling an environment for child rights to be valued.30 As seen in figure 18, domain number 5 of this index reveals the extent to which countries have operationalised the general agreed upon principles from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - which include non-discrimination, respect for the views of the child to be valued, child participation and the extent to which there is a basic infrastructure for making and implementing child rights policy in national legislation and local rulings.31 This ranking however does not take into account the cultural settings within which these children
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abide by. For example, domain number 5 assesses the willingness of governmental authorities in employing higher level strategies to achieve the intended principles that are set out in the UN CRC. It does not however assess the cultural disparities which may affect the children in question on a more local scale. For example, if a high-level policy is approved at a national level to improve the overall security of transport systems for children to get to school more easily, how does this affect a group of children who culturally want to learn about their methods of indigenous life from their older generations? The method of assessment therefore fails to adequately assess the suitability of these interventions at a local scale.
FIGURE 18
Map from KidsRights Index
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FIGURE 19
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Ladder of Children’s Participation Roger Hart, 1992
LEVEL 8 / CHILD INITIATED, SHARED DECISION WITH ADULTS Share decision making authority / management / power with adult partners
LEVEL 7 / CHILD INITIATED AND DIRECTED Children work cooperatively in small / large groups
LEVEL 6 / ADULT INITIATED, SHARED DECISION WITH CHILDREN Adults initiate participatory objects, share decision making authority with children
LEVEL 5 / CONSULTED AND INFORMED Children as consultants for adults Project designed and run by adults, children understand entire process
LEVEL 4 / ASSIGNED BUT INFORMED Children understand intention of the project and volunteer to participate Children know who and why decisions were made
LEVEL 3 / TOKENISM Children give a voice but have little / no choice about style of communication / opportunity to formulate own opinion
LEVEL 2 / DECORATION Children put on display but they do not understand intent Adults use children to bolster their cause
LEVEL 1 / MANIPULATION Children do not understand their role in the process or how their ideas are being used
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METHODS OF ASSESSMENT OF ENGAGEMENT Ladder of Children's Participation Roger Hart's Ladder of Children's Participation proposes a method of assessment that focuses on the varying levels of participation a child can have in any given project. It suggests that the higher rungs of the ladder, which encourage a childinitiated approach are the most desirable, whilst the lower rungs which embody a tokenistic approach are merely emblematic and are nonparticipatory. The ladder therefore focuses on the idea that the success of a participatory project should be assessed based on who initiated the entire venture and what decision making capabilities he has over the entire design process. The emphasis is therefore placed on the degree of autonomy that the child has in initiating the project.
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Based on Hart's ladder, a child who is informed of the entire decision making process and told where his ideas will have an impact on has already achieved a higher level of participation than a child who is simply given a task with no explanation. This however is a debatable point of assessment as the informed child can still choose to not participate in the activity as much as the uninformed child. Similarly, an adult-initiated project can be equally as participatory as a child-initiated project given the activity in question and the level of engagement present by the group of children involved. Hart's ladder therefore poses a series of critical questions with regards to how the levels of engagement of child-participatory design can actually be assessed on a more universal scale.
FIGURE 20
Hart's children's ladder was based upon Arnstein's Ladder of Citizen Participation Sherry Arnstein, 1969
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GLOBALISATION OF CHILD RIGHTS Concluding from the extensive research conducted on the history of the establishment of the UN CRC, the politics of age-defined democratic systems as well as looking at how different marginalised communities define their own metrics of maturity, the globalisation of child rights shows clear points of weakness. It is evident that the general principles of the UN CRC, which are predominantly based on Western concepts of childhood fail to take into account the specific needs and issues which affect children on a more local scale, especially in countries of the Global Majority.
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Methods of assessment which have been used globally by the UN and independent bodies, such as the KidsRightsIndex evaluate and rank countries based on whether they are complying and meeting the obligations set out in the UN CRC, rather than whether or not children are better off as a result of the intervention. For example, the garment children in Bangladesh were banned from being employed in factories as a means of enforcing Article 28 and 29 of the UN CRC, which state that every child below the age of 18 should receive a proper education in a school setting. In terms of reality however, the dismissed garment children were forced to uptake more dangerous forms of labour in the construction industry as a result of the loss of their jobs, which previously supplemented their entire family's income. The best interests of the garment children in Bangladesh were therefore not taken into account when high level interventions were made - based off of a set of assumptions far removed from the children’s reality.
FIGURE 17
Garment children of Bangladesh
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CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
JEAN PIAGET (1936)
Foundational to the theoretical study of child behaviour and cognitive development in children are two pioneering child psychologists, known as Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky.
Piaget's theory emphasises the importance of a child's individual exploration of his physical environment. He argues that every child goes through the same four stages of cognitive development, which are;
Known as the forefathers of child psychological development, Piaget and Vygotsky came to different conclusions with regards to how children learn and contain information.
Birth to 18-24 months Sensorimotor 18-24 months to 7 years Preoperational Ages 7 to 11 Concrete operational 11 to adulthood Formal operational Piaget also believed that young children were schematic and hence, learned through a process of assimilation or adaptation. He strongly believed that children learned through a series of schemas, in which they are constantly being reconfigured and re-adapted according to the experiences of the child. For example, a child may have a schema about the taste of a lemon. If the child’s sole experience of yellow fruits has been a lemon, a child may start to believe that all yellow fruits taste as sour as lemons. If the child then encounters a banana for example, he will then re-adapt and assimilate this new information into his existing schema - making a mental note that all yellow fruits do not taste the same.
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Piaget's four stages of cognitive development
Birth to 2 years / SENSORIMOTOR Child understands world through senses and actions
2 to 7 years / PREOPERATIONAL Child understands world through language and mental images
7 - 12 years / CONCRETE OPERATIONAL Child understands world through logical thinking and categories
12 years onwards / FORMAL OPERATIONAL Child understands world through hypothetical thinking and scientific reasoning
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ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT LEV VYGOTSKY (1962) Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development on the other hand emphasises the importance of a sociocultural approach, which focusses on the social and cultural environment of a child's upbringing. Vygotsky argues that the process of learning happens in a much more natural and continuous state, where the child is heavily influenced by his community and how he socially interacts with them.
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Vygotsky’s theory of social constructivism emphasizes the importance of sociocultural learning, how interactions with adults and more capable peers, can actually help the child learn better through what is known as the zone of proximal development. Following Vygotsky, some educators believe that the role of education is to give children experiences that are within their zones of proximal development, to encourage and advance their individual learning skills, that would otherwise be unattainable alone.
he learner canno t do ngs t Thi
Th
p el
roximal Develop of P m ne arner can do w ent e l o Z ith the s h g in
Things the learner can do on her own
Zone of Proximal Development (with help from more experiences peers or adults)
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Despite their differences in opinion with regards to the factors of influence of a child's cognitive development, Piaget and Vygotsky came to similar conclusions regarding the fact that children learn about the world through their interactions with it, which is more commonly known as constructivism. Rather than just passively taking in information, constructivism is said to promote a sense of personal agency as children have ownership over their learning and assessment
Jean Piaget 1936 Four discrete stages Cognitive development is limited by stages Young children are schematic Motivation to maintain cognitive equilibrium Development occurs through assimilation or adaptation
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Constru appro
Social set the l develo
uctivism oach
forces limits of opment
Both Piaget and Vygotsky's theories were developed around the same period of time and were equally influential in terms of a theoretical method of understanding child cognitive development. Vygotsky, however, died at the early age of 38, before completing a major part of his work. Piaget's theories therefore have been developed a lot more than Vygotsky.
Lev Vygotsky 1962 Continuous development (no stages) Socially transmitted knowledge (cooperative learning and scaffolding) Zone of proximal development Private speech helps internalise knowledge
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Adult
Based on Piaget's and Vygotsky's theory of constructivism and the role of adults as facilitators, this resulted in the development of an alternative diagram that challenges Hart’s ladder and represents my take on participatory design, discussing the relationship that exists between participation and proximity. My research argues that when designing engagement activities, we should be focussing on improving overall child-adult relations, rather than just focussing on interaction levels between children or adults alone. Through this approach, both parties stand to gain individual benefits, whilst working towards a more equitable form of society. Instructors and adults therefore have to adapt to the role of facilitators and not teachers. The primary responsibility of the ‘facilitator’ in this sense will be to create a collaborative problemsolving environment where children become active participants in their own learning, located within their zone of proximal development.
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Theoretical assumption
Adult-adult relationship
Polar question
Mult cho
t-led
tiple oice
Child-led
Feedback / Opinion
Recurrent Engagement Zone of proximal development
Adult-child relationship
Protest
Petition
Outright rejection / acceptance
Conflict and resolution between children
Child-child relationship
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“Lacking social awareness, his perception of the environment is not 'tainted' by social considerations – He has not acquired that selective vision that distinguishes the beauty of the flowers from that of the weeds.” Piaget Vygotsky, 1948
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THE 'SWEET SPOT' AGE RANGE
According to Piaget’s experiment in his book, the ‘Moral judgement of the Child’, he states that ‘from around 10 years of age, children become autonomous and allow changes to rules by common agreement’. Piaget notes that children from this age onwards begin to adhere to societal norms of one’s political systems (such as forming a democratic opinion on how they should solve problems that arise) as they start to identify their position as a member of a collective society that has rules and conventions that they should abide by.
The age range of a child between 10 and 12 years of age therefore becomes an incredibly crucial point of cognitive development for Article 12 and 13 of the UN CRC, as the child starts to readily accept external opinions as a method of rationalisation, whilst still freely expressing his individual views of the world, without a societal filter.
Piaget also notes that children beyond the age of 12 start to conform their opinions to what they believe is socially accepted. Children therefore start to conceal their true points of view and reactions in fear of rejection and humiliation from the rest of their society.
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COLLECTING DATA 56 | 2022
LEARNING This next portion of research looks at various methods of learning about what constitutes the experience of being a child, namely through documenting lived experiences and through the embodiment of fictional films. This is done to better understand the exact point of entry for the design brief which encompasses ideas about child rights, participatory design and adult-child relationships. This was also done to learn about any existing adult - child tensions or intergenerational disconnects that may exist between childhood and adulthood.
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LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE Lived experience The UN CRC was globally implemented in 1989 - every child however would have experienced something completely different to each other, irrespective of their geographical location, citizenship status or level of wealth. The methodological approach of a survey is therefore used to document and draw upon real life experiences of children and childhood memories from kids of all ethnicities and backgrounds who were born after 1990. The survey has been designed to include a series of trivial and reflective questions which can help trigger memories of one's childhood; in the hopes of being able to use this database of information to create an ensemble of real life child characters that express certain issues and struggles they were faced with as a child. The survey was publicly distributed through various social media accounts and reached over 75 responses from more than 15 countries. The responses were then analysed to create a database of childhood characters that were represented through a series of tarot card illustrations as a means of methodological development. Survey link
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Questions asked: What year were you born in? Where did you spend most of your childhood? In your opinion, at what age do you think one stops being a child? What was your favourite childhood TV show / movie / tune? What was your favourite childhood story? What smell reminds you of your childhood? What was your favourite piece of clothing (as a child)? What language did you mainly speak when growing up? What animal did you want to be when you were a child? Are there any significant events from your childhood that you still remember? If yes, did they impact you in any way? How? If multiple events, please list them all. What were your priorities like as a child? What was your favourite space / room / hangout / building as a child? If you could rebuild the city you grew up in, how would you change it? Were there any particular tensions you remember experiencing when growing up? When you were a child, was there ever something you wanted to do so badly but couldn't because of your age (or because someone told you that you were too young)? Have you ever been envious of some form of freedom another child seem to have had? What was it? What do you miss about your childhood (that has changed, either personally or externally)? * If you had the chance, would you rather be a child of today (a gen alpha) or retain being a child in your own generation?
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An example of a character that was developed was based on one of the survey responses received from Kenya. This person speaks about her experience of understanding inequality as a child whilst growing up in a developing suburb in Nairobi. The response shares her individual experience of growing up as a person of Asian descent in Kenya as well as her individual priorities as a child that focussed on the outdoors and exploring the nature and the biodiversity that the Kenyan forests had to offer, whilst also verbalising the horrifying incidents she experienced first hand during political rallies and adult confrontations.
“In
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2008,
we had a massive political clash during the Kenyan Elections. All I remember from that crazy period of time was everyone panicking and hundreds of Kenyans dying as many buildings were burned down as a result of the ‘tribal war’ that was instigated by two opposing candidates in the elections. This was when I realised how horrible and unfair the spectrum of inequality was within my own country. All the people who had money fled to other countries like Australia and the UK for temporary safety whilst the poor struggled and even died in a battle they did not even create. In short, I realised that, as in many other developing country - the poor fight the wars and the rich benefit.”
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This tarot card depicts a response from India. The survey participant remembers a huge mango tree in his backyard that his grandfather had planted for him and how he loved playing cricket while the leaves blew in the wind. This response also expresses his frustration against the current levels of pollution that his childhood home experiences.
“I had my own branch in my mango tree. A part of this branch was shaped to make the perfect seat which was forever known as my spot among all of my friends and family"
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Analysis of responses Of the questions asked, the three which were extremely insightful include the question about a specific event that defined a moment of their childhood, a favourite building as well as what they would change about their childhood. A majority of the responses hinted at very personal and family related answers when it came to specifying an event that was instrumental in their childhood. Examples of which include a death of a family member, achievements in a social
Inventory of an 80’s living room 66 | 2022
context such as winning a medal or a celebration dinner with friends and family, whilst others stated matters of displeasure experienced such as racism or a fight. With regards to the question about a favourite building or space from their childhood, not a single response mentioned a particular building or monument. Almost every response had a fond memory of a domestic setting such as their grandparent's living room or their backyard.
Almost 70% of the responses to the final question of what changes they would currently make to their city included a mention of green space and a higher level of independent mobility - particular concerning the reduction of motor vehicles and noise pollution. The responses were therefore extremely insightful into the complex relationships that exist between the memories of being a child and that of the current perplexity of an adult.
Most of the responses referenced nostalgic ideas surrounding their childhood - which have since changed drastically with the development of technology and data. A bonus question was added to the thank you page which asked if the respondent would prefer their childhood or one in the current generation - and all but one said they would not prefer to be a child of generation Z.
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LEARNING FROM FICTION Child behaviour
Where the Wild Things Are Maurice Sendak, 1963
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Where Wild Things Are Warner Bros Pictures, 2009 PLOT
REMARKS
"Feeling misunderstood at home and at school, mischievous Max escapes to the land of the Wild Things, majestic -- and sometimes fierce -- creatures. They allow Max to become their leader, and he promises to create a kingdom where everyone will be happy. However, Max soon finds that being king is not easy and that, even being with the Wild Things, there is something missing." 32
"Go and play with your friends" "You're not allowed here, Max!" Max rebelled when he was denied attention Stands on a table and yells to prove his point Immediately befriends creatures in the wild because they listen and respect him as a being Max becomes king before the trolls and convinces them that he is the kind using fibs - the creatures want to believe that there is a 'king' (a person who is to be responsible for everyone to keep them happy) "I'm Max" "That's not very much, is it?" (Creatures only listen when they think you have power) Max hides when he sees an argument take place (tries to make a small, secret door so that he can feel safe) Resolved an argument using a physical fight between the 'bad guys' and the 'good guys' "I wish you guys had a mom"
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Innocence Lucile Hadžihalilović, 2004
PLOT
REMARKS
"At an unusual private school for girls, new students, including young Iris, show up in coffins. The establishment's teachers, Mademoiselle Eva and Mademoiselle Edith, introduce Iris and her fellow pupils to the school's curriculum, which includes fairy-like dances through a nearby forest. When night falls, the older girls, who are on the threshold of womanhood, are then given mysterious, life-changing lessons." 33
Child's instinct to touch and pick up everything when you walk in a room
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Extremely curious - why? where? when? Fear of punishment drives through their thoughts Highly dependent on adult's approval Children do not understand adults or their actions but still see them as role models
Codenames: Kids Next Door Cartoon Network, 2002 - 2008
PLOT
REMARKS
"A mysterious treehouse hidden from adults is the headquarters for five friends known as Kids Next Door. These 10-year-olds take on adults to get out of going to the dentist or summer camp by using "2x4 Technology." They build and design elaborate contraptions using anything they can get their hands on: bubble gum, old wood, and spare tires. Each kid has a specialty and works with the team to win silly battles with adults." 34
Kids forget about their childhood as an agent once they turn a certain age Adult - child tensions are extremely high Each episode tackles a different social problem - primarily speaks towards the issues of ageism and adultcentrism
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Adult-led
Theoretical assumption
Adult-adult relationship
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Polar question
Multiple choice
Child-led
Feedback / Opinion
Recurrent Engagement Zone of proximal development
Adult-child relationship
Protest
Petition
Outright rejection / acceptance
Conflict and resolution between children
CASE STUDIES
Child-child relationship
REFERENCES
Criteria of assessment:
This next portion of research presents a series of case studies from various architectural and design practices that have chosen to run some form of an engagement activity with children during the brief definition phase of the particular project.
Points of engagement How many points of interaction were there between the same group of children and the designer? Was there a form of trust built between the adult designer and that of the children?
The assessment of these case studies are based on a series of criteria defined by the premise of the newly proposed methodological diagram that focuses on the idea of proximity and participation to deduce how effective the methodology has been in understanding the ideas and issues raised by the children involved.
Medium of engagement used What type of medium was used to interact with the group of children involved? Was this a readily accessible medium that the child is already familiar with and can revisit once the activity is over as a form of individual expression? Adult-child relation Where does the engagement activity sit on the diagram of adultchild relations?
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FIGURE 21
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ZCD conducting engagement workshops
Aberfeldy Masterplan ZCD Architects SUMMARY
ANALYSIS
A design engagement activity that involved over a hundred primary and secondary school pupils from East London to help define the newly proposed Aberfeldy landscaping, urban design and public realm masterplans. The activity included walking tours and photography sessions of the proposed sites.
Points of engagement Minimal points of engagement with two groups of very different age ranges in a public setting.
Points of engagement Medium of engagement used Adult - child relation
Medium of engagement used Photography + surveys Adult - child relation Feedback / opinion REMARKS The engagement activity was run in a public setting with a large pupil-todesigner ratio, which may have led to an increased level of disengagement as the children might not have felt as valued or spoken to, given the premise of the physical distractions surrounding the activity. The use of a survey to receive feedback and opinions on a singular point of interaction may have also led to lower levels of trust between the designer and the child.
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FIGURE 22
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Finished Mellor Primary School by SWA
Mellor Primary School, Stockport Sarah Wigglesworth Architects, 2015 SUMMARY
ANALYSIS
A community-built extension extension to a primary school in Stockport using natural materials and a coherent engagement methodology.
Points of engagement Multiple points of engagement particularly on the front end of the brief definition phase. The children were openly consulted and given an opportunity to express their individual ideas of how they would like their school to look like and this was very successful throughout the entire process - from Stage 2 of the RIBA Plan of Work up till Stage 4.
Points of engagement Medium of engagement used Adult - child relation
Medium of engagement used Sketches + models Adult - child relation Recurrent engagement REMARKS The brief was initiated by the school and executed by SWA as designers in charge. Limitations, however, may have been placed in terms of the physical spaces required by the school authorities during the brief definition phase. There was also no establishment of a form of trust between the designer and the child during the design definition phase; hence, this may have led to lower levels of distrust, and subsequently levels of engagement between the adult and the child (which may have been overturned by the end result of the community build.)
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FIGURE 23
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Children working on treehouses in Mallydams
Mallydams Treehouses, Mallydams Woods Matt + Fiona SUMMARY
ANALYSIS
A self build treehouse project in conjunction with RSPCA Mallydam, where ten students and six young carers collaboratively build 'treehouses' over a span of 2 day workshops.
Points of engagement Multiple points of engagement in a short period of time. The children were openly consulted and given an opportunity to express their individual ideas during the intense 2 day workshop.
Points of engagement
Medium of engagement used Sketches + models
Medium of engagement used
Adult - child relation Recurrent engagement
Adult - child relation
REMARKS The lack of a time lag between the brief definition phase and the execution of the project meant that a series of decisions were to be made in a very precise manner - leaving minimal room for the children to mull over their collective ideas and negotiate amongst themselves for a more cohesive outcome. The engagement workshops were heavily based upon overall child - child relations, in which the children were primarily making decisions amongst themselves, with the adults as executive assistants.
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Adult-led
Theoretical assumption
Adult-adult relationship
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Polar question
Multiple choice
Child-led
Feedback / Opinion
Recurrent Engagement Zone of proximal development
Adult-child relationship
Protest
Petition
Outright rejection / acceptance
Conflict and resolution between children
Child-child relationship
Concluded criteria to assess future methodology on, based on research conducted Expression Does the methodology allow children to freely and comfortably express their ideas and frustrations in the presence of adults? Acceptance Do the children feel listened to? Do they feel like their ideas and frustrations are being taken seriously by adults? Do the adults / designers feel like they understand more of where the ideas and frustrations of children are coming from? Translation Does the output speak equally to both adults and children? Do both parties understand more about the other?
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DESIGN CONTEXT
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PACE LAYERING Stewart Brand's pace layers represent a theoretical assumption about the speed at which things change within our societies. Following Brand's theory, he suggests that our societies are governed by a series of systems which have a different rates of change. According to whichever pace layer the system is bounded to, they follow a different pattern of movement. For example, fashion, which is an extremely fast paced industry, changes instantaneously over a number of weeks, whereas systems of nature, such as the climate, take decades and centuries to see the aftermath of an event.
Brand's theory therefore poses an extremely intriguing question as to where our intended interventions as designers should sit within the context of our own societal systems. If we were to make a fundamental change to the accepted ideas of our existing frameworks, such as those of the rights of children, at what scale should we be questioning the fundamentals of the frameworks within which we operate in? Should we instead be operating on a more local scale, where the pace of change is faster but can positively impact the community sooner?
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FIGURE 24
UNICEF's Theory of Change
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“The city is a workshop, a playpen, a playground" 35 Colin Ward
“The world for the child is full of miracles, it is one of varied experiences" 36 Colin Ward
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THE CHILD IN THE CITY Colin Ward, 1978 Colin Ward's account of his childhood spent exploring the realms of his inner city in the early 1930s explicitly creates a surreal moment of reflection in the minds of a twenty-first century reader.
Children were not protected to the degree of fear, and instead were encouraged to interact with one another and explore the realms of their city in any way they see possible.
Ward's depiction of his menial daily tasks (such as picking up some fish for his mother from the fishmonger or posting a letter at the post office) makes the reader realise how much of our cities have been turned into efficiency machines that aim to get a person from point A to B in the least time consuming way possible. Ward on the other hand, would utilise these daily domestic tasks as an exploratory journey through his city - as a means of acquiring all kinds of skills such as counting money, reading bus stop signs, talking to strangers and increasing social skills.
The introduction of the UN CRC in 1990 however, together with the advancement of the automobile industry resulted in a series of policy changes that affected the freedom of children under the pretence of safety. Roads and transport systems which prioritised the needs of large vehicles started taking precedence over the needs of the younger generation and hence, led to a series of physical environment changes that allowed the children to explore less and less on their own.
Ward goes on to explain how children of the 30s were known to be 'wanderers', that were free to explore and tread through their city like it was their own backyard.
With the rise of automobiles, parental control, individual safety fears as well as a lack of independent knowledge on mobility, children resorted to more domestic settings that prioritised a safe and predicted environment.
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“The city had failed its children... it has failed to offer legitimate adventures” 37 Colin Ward
DIEGETIC PROTOTYPES The following are a series of digitally modelled prototypes which aim to highlight the act of children in domestic settings - choosing to manipulate everyday household objects as a means of political subversion to their constrained mobility within their city. 88 | 2022
Couch & cushions - a decoy play to increase the level of mobility and freedom available to a child
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Grandma’s pill organiser - a disguised ‘treasure box’ (S - school shooting, M - safety, T - societal pressure, W - Cyber bullying, T eco-anxiety, S - ageism)
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Daily newspaper & ballpoint pen - a child’s blank canvas
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Grandpa’s foot stool - a child’s makeshift hurdle race to increase the level of risk play and test the limits of danger
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Portable radiator - a make-believe toaster that induces a certain level of independence that comes from making your own food
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“I don't want a childhood city. I want a city where children live in the same world I do” 38 Colin Ward
The next generation’s needs and demands are not radical or extremist; they are extremely necessary, and if we approach design questions without challenging our frames of reference, such as those generalised in the UN CRC for example, we are setting ourselves up for failure. This raises the question: what would our cities look like if they were to be designed by children (of the Global Majority)?
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ENDNOTES 01
Matteo Mastrandrea, Nicola Koller and Tom Greenall, Part 05: Missing Parts (London: 2022).
02
'The Convention on the Rights of the Child: The children’s version', UNICEF (2021) <https://www.unicef.org/child-rights-convention/convention-textchildrens-version> [accessed 06 November 2021].
03
UNICEF, The Climate Crisis is a Child Rights Crisis: Introducing the Children’s Climate Risk Index (New York: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 2021) p. 9.
04
Paul Lewis, 'WORLD SUMMIT FOR CHILDREN; World's Leaders Gather at U.N. for Summit Meeting on Children', The New York Times, 30 September 1990, section 1, pp. 1.
05
Tracey Skelton, Children, Young People, UNICEF and Participation, Children's Geographies (2007) <https://doi.org/10.1080/14733280601108338> [accessed 06 May 20220.
06
UNICEF, The Climate Crisis is a Child Rights Crisis: Introducing the Children’s Climate Risk Index (New York: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 2021) p. 9.
07
Ibid., p. 6.
08
Ibid., p. 6.
09
Ibid., p. 5.
10
Ministry of Education Malaysia, Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013 - 2025 (Preschool to Post Secondary Education) (Putrajaya: Ministry of Education Malaysia, 2013) p. E-9.
11
'113 schools put out of action by floods', Free Malaysia Today (2022) <https:// www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2022/01/03/113-schools-putout-of-action-by-floods/> [accessed 05 January 2022].
12
‘All my kids’ school items destroyed in Johor floods’, TheVibes.com (2021) <https://www.thevibes.com/articles/news/12149/all-my-kids-school-itemsdestroyed-in-johor-floods> [accessed 05 January 2022].
13
'Realizing Children’s Rights in Madagascar', UNICEF (2012) <https://www. humanium.org/en/madagascar/> [accessed 07 January 2022].
14
Fanja Saholiarisoa, 'They are reborn a second time thanks to birth certificates', UNICEF (2021) <https://www.unicef.org/madagascar/en/stories/they-arereborn-second-time-thanks-birth-certificates> [accessed 07 January 2022].
15
'Our cities. Our lives. Our future. Child Friendly Cities Child & Youth Manifesto', UNICEF (2021) <https://s25924.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/CFCIChild-and-Youth-Manifesto-FINAL.pdf> [accessed 20 November 2021].
16
'Voting age', Wikipedia <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_age> [accessed
15 November 2021]. 17
'Age of majority', Wikipedia <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_majority> [accessed 15 November 2021].
18
'Ageing and health', World Health Organisation (2021) <https://www.who.int/ news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ageing-and-health#:~:text=Between%20 2015%20and%202050%2C%20the,%2D%20and%20 middle%2Dincome%20countries.> [accessed 12 November 2021].
19
Hannah Ritchie, 'The world population is changing: For the first time there are more people over 64 than children younger than 5', Our World in Data (2020) <https://ourworldindata.org/population-aged-65-outnumber-children> [accessed 12 November 2021].
20
'Democracy for Young People' Talking Politics, podcast, 05 December 2018 <https://www.talkingpoliticspodcast.com/blog/2018/129-democracy-foryoung-people> [accessed 30 October 2021].
21
Ibid.
22
Sally Crawford & Carenza Lewis, Childhood Studies and the Society for the Study of Childhood in the Past, Childhood in the Past, 1:1, 5-16, DOI: 10.1179/cip.2009.1.1.5
23
Aradia Wyndham, 'The Beng Babies of the Côte d’Ivoire', The Baby Historian, 2015 <https://thebabyhistorian.com/2015/02/19/the-beng-babies-of-thecote-divoire/> [accessed 10 November 2021].
24
Heather Montgomery, 'Different cultures, different childhoods', OpenLearn, 2019 <https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/differentcultures-different-childhoods> [accessed 18 November 2021].
25
Ibid.
26
George Basden, Among the Ibos of Nigeria: an account of the curious and interesting habits, customs and beliefs of a little known African people by one who has for many years lived amongst them on close and intimate terms (London: Cass, 1966)
27
Draper, 1976: 205-6.
28
Ibid.
29
The KidsRights Index 2021 Report, 2021 (Amsterdam: Kids Rights, 2021).
30
'KidsRights Index', KidsRights (2021) <https://www.kidsrights.org/research/ kidsrights-index/> [accessed 29 November 2021].
31
The KidsRights Index 2021 Report, 2021 (Amsterdam: Kids Rights, 2021) p. 26.
32
'Where the Wild Things Are', Rotten Tomatoes (2009)<https://www. rottentomatoes.com/m/where_the_wild_things_are> [accessed 05 June 2022].
32
'Innocence', Rotten Tomatoes (2004) <https://www.rottentomatoes.com/ m/1185734-innocence> [accessed 05 June 2022].
33
'Codename: Kids Next Door: Summary', IMDb (2000) <https://www.imdb. com/title/tt0312109/plotsummary#:~:text=The%20adventures%20 of%20a%20group,that%20adults%20restrict%20from%20 them.&text=Codename%3A%20Kids%20Next%20Door%20follows,the%20 fun%20things%20in%20life.> [accessed 05 June 2022]
34
Colin Ward, The child in the city, (New York: Pantheon Books, 1978).
35
Ibid.
36
Ibid.
37
Ibid.
38
Ibid.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Basden, George, Among the Ibos of Nigeria: an account of the curious and interesting habits, customs and beliefs of a little known African people by one who has for many years lived amongst them on close and intimate terms (London: Cass, 1966) Jeffers, Oliver, The working mind and drawing hand of Oliver Jeffers (New York: Rizzoli, 2018) Hart, Roger, 'Ladder of Children’s Participation', Organizing Engagament <https:// organizingengagement.org/models/ladder-of-childrens-participation/> [accessed 17 December 2021] Lewis, Paul, 'WORLD SUMMIT FOR CHILDREN; World's Leaders Gather at U.N. for Summit Meeting on Children', The New York Times, 30 September 1990, section 1, pp. 1 Ministry of Education Malaysia, Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013 - 2025 (Preschool to Post Secondary Education) (Putrajaya: Ministry of Education Malaysia, 2013) Munroe, Randall, What If? (London: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014) Savage, Jon, Teenage: The Creation of Youth 1875 - 1945 (London: Chatto & Windus, 2007) Stern, Rebecca, 'The Child's Right to Participation – Reality or Rhetoric?' (published PhD thesis, Uppsala University, 2006) <https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/ diva2:168647/FULLTEXT01.pdf> [accessed 03 January 2022] The KidsRights Index 2021 Report, 2021 (Amsterdam: Kids Rights, 2021) UNICEF, The Climate Crisis is a Child Rights Crisis: Introducing the Children’s Climate Risk Index (New York: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 2021) UNICEF, 'The Convention on the Rights of the Child: The children’s version', UNICEF (2021) <https://www.unicef.org/child-rights-convention/convention-text-childrensversion> [accessed 06 November 2021] Ward, Colin, The child in the city, (New York: Pantheon Books, 1978). Widdicombe, Josh, Watching Neighbours Twice a Day... How '90s TV (Almost) Prepared Me for Life (London: Blink Publishing, 2021)
FILMS The Breadwinner, dir. by Nora Twomey (StudioCanal, 2017) Codename: Kids Next Door, Cartoon Network, 6 December 2002 Home Alone, dir. by Chris Columbus (20th Century Fox, 1990) Innocence, dir. by Lucile Hadžihalilović (Mars Distribution, 2004) Mad Max 2, dir. by George Miller (Warner Bros. Pictures, 1981) Phineas and Ferb, Disney–ABC Domestic Television, 17 August 2007 Where the Wild Things Are, dir. by Spike Jonze (Warner Bros. Pictures, 2008)
@swetects 2021 / 22
