Charithra Shetty
MSc in Interior Design, Bangalore
Exploring Biomimicry in Tomorrow’s Play Schools – JD Design Awards 2024
Charithra Shetty, a student of the MSc in Interior Design at JD School of Design, Bangalore, presented her project, “Exploring Biomimicry in Tomorrow’s Play Schools,” at the JD Design Awards 2024. She innovatively used biomimetic principles in the design of future playschools to provide children with an immersive learning environment and presented her new ideas in sustainable design at the JD Design Awards 2024.
ILLUSTRATIONS
“Biomimicry in Play Schools of Tomorrow” presents biomimicry as a huge factor in making educational green and interactive spaces by drawing inspiration from nature to solve human challenges. It draws inspiration from the intricate beauty and adaptive mechanisms of nature, including flow dynamics in currents, bioluminescence in deep-sea creatures, and biodiversity richness on coral reefs. It is the best capture of visual, functional sustainability, and edification when all these mentioned elements combine for a play school.
The use of bioluminescent lighting systems here allows children to experience magic by simulating the ethereal light that underwater life produces. It incorporates living walls covered with seaweed and aquatic plants to clean the air and create a sensory feeling of being underwater in paradise.
JDDA 2024
The playschool incorporates materials and technologies that minimise environmental impact while maximising educational and sensory engagement. Some of the materials used in this project include smart fabrics integrated with sensors, sustainable natural fibres through bio-textiles, and recycled plastics. Biophilic surfaces such as moss walls and green living plant installations will help to enhance interior air quality while making a haptic connection to nature. The course of learning becomes quite dynamic through interactive displays, holographic projections, and smart glass panels. This innovation further pushes the futuristic aesthetic of this playschool.
The vision of the project is to connect the use of future fiction in education with advanced technologies like virtual reality and holographic displays, taking the learning experience further. Children can be teleported to faraway ecosystems, play with virtual avatars showcasing cultures from across the world, and engage in rich sensory activities that help children develop their cognitive abilities and feel the world better. At the playschool, kinetic tiles that generate energy upon movement are encouraged for children to move about.
Charithra Shetty
MSc in Interior Design, Bangalore
www.jddesignawards.com