A modern community center, open to the needs of young people, who themselves can manage their time spent in its space? The project of the Children and Youth Forum, whose author is {tag:studenci}, was awarded in the Best Engineering Diploma of the Year 2024 competition organized by SARP Oddział Rzeszów and Politechnika Rzeszowska.
Klaudia Mazur's project presents a public building dedicated to representatives of Generation Z. One of its main goals is to counteract the massive problem with addiction to new technologies among young people.
visualization
proj.: Klaudia Mazur
The proposed spaces are intended to attract the attention of children and young people, to intensify their creative thinking, to allow them to expand their knowledge, acquire new skills, improve them, as well as realize and develop their passions. "Children and Youth Forum" is designed to meet the needs of: health, safety, activity, agency, establishing relationships and social contacts, self-expression, belonging, acceptance, development and learning, hospitality, as well as privacy. It is important for young people to feel comfortable in them and just be themselves.
- explains the author.
At the same time, the Children and Youth Forum is a response to the lack of well-equipped facilities that would allow Generation Z to meet and pursue their passions.
An oasis for the development of passions and relaxation of young people in the city center
The project was located in the center of the city and the downtown district of Rzeszow, not far from the Square of Ghetto Victims. There are bus stops, bicycle paths and cultural facilities nearby, such as the Maska Theater and the Dobranocek Museum, as well as educational facilities, most notably the nearby IX High School and the Vocational Training School Complex.
site development plan
designed by Klaudia Mazur
The facility is adapted to the needs of teenagers, including by creating comfortable, ergonomic seating areas. "Adolescents like to sit up high, with their feet supported, slouching and leaning," the author cites the theses of researchers. The standard location of benches in parks is not conducive to group meetings in a circle while being able to comfortably make eye contact with co-counselors. So the author designed simple, minimalist seating set in an irregular circle.
The designed space of the forum is intended to catch the attention of users, to intensify their creative thinking, to allow them to expand their knowledge, acquire new skills, improve them, as well as to realize and develop their passions. Therefore, the project includes three zones: artistic, practical and relaxation and recreation.
Kitchen, gallery and design studio available to everyone
The Forum included a buffet along with an open kitchen where users would have the opportunity to learn how to cook. The designer also envisioned the placement of a greenhouse within the building, from which ingredients for meals would be sourced. An exhibition space is also visible from the first floor of the building. In it, users have the opportunity to showcase the results of their activities, and this is intended to contribute to building a sense of agency in them.
first floor plan
design: Klaudia Mazur
The design zone is planned to provide public access to LEGO bricks, a 3D printer, VR goggles, and laptops and computers, allowing young people to develop technical skills. The space will level the playing field for all teens, regardless of the wealth level of their families. The Forum also included a sports and recreation area, with a sports hall and gym, as well as common spaces equipped with board games, pool tables, etc.
The body of the building has been kept in a white color scheme. This allows the walls of the building to become a space for the realization of the artistic needs of young people, who in the neighborhood express it through illegal graffiti. The futuristic form of the building results from the irregular shapes of each floor.
idea process of the block
proj.: Klaudia Mazur
A place that will transform the leisure time of Generation Z
The author paid attention to the small area of green space in the neighborhood, so she proposed to maintain a garden on the outside of the designed building, as well as in its inner courtyard.
visualization
proj.: Klaudia Mazur
An honorable mention was awarded for combining the theme of "forum for children and young people" with a heavy location in the center of the city in a degraded building. A space that draws you in, provides security and shapes positive reactions among young people during their search for their own personality.
- reads the justification of the competition jury.
