"KidsBuild" 2019 by Boston Society of Architects

Trained as an architect, I served as a professor, research and teaching assistant and conducted a lot of graduation project design studios, offered many courses on theory, history and discourse in modern and contemporary (world) architecture in the 20^th century and organized a lot of workshops in architecture. However, I have never had an experience how to teach children basic principles of architectural design and raise their awareness of the built environment with a humanist and aesthetic understanding. In this respect, “KidsBuild” was completely a new and informative experience for me: Thinking about architectural design and its basic principles through kids’ eyes. On April 5^th 2019, we gathered at Boston Society of Architects to set up “material and construction yards” for kids. On April 6^th-7^th, we helped “Kidsbuild” participants how to design a community, neighborhood, and architectural design are experienced with human sensory perception; how they are accomplished by composing the physical characteristics of human scale, proportion, size, shape, texture, mass, color, etc. Within this context, we also told and showed them the essential principles of city planning and building design, basic building materials, the relationship between form and function in architecture, various kinds of building types and homes, various structural concepts in architecture, etc. I believe that “KidsBuild” was a perfect combination of children getting the chance to use their imagination while learning about real life practices in a very hands on way. More importantly, I think that this organization for them is one of the best ways to show them how their creative skills, ideas and input could change future in a positive way.