Shashank S M
MSc in Interior Design, Bangalore
Urban Jungle Play School – JD Design Awards 2024
Shashank S. M. is a student at JD School of Design, Bangalore, in the MSc Interior Design programme. He participated in the JD Design Awards 2024 with his project “Urban Jungle Play School” a visionary idea that mingles the urban pulsating energy with a mesmerising allurement towards the jungle, which brings an innovative dimension to a children’s learning environment.
ILLUSTRATIONS
“Urban Jungle Play School” is designed to instil in a child creative inquisitiveness and an appreciation of nature. The project will, for the first time, convert a generic city space into a verdant, pulsating oasis of learning and playing. Borrowing from the diversity of tropical rainforests, the play school will have towering tree houses, meandering jungle trails, and materials such as bamboo, wood, and stone to render it authentic and green.
All that jazz in design comes from the guiding philosophy: that children blossom in environments where they can freely explore and interact with their surrounding environment. The Urban Jungle Play School takes not only play but also holistic development and learning into account. This is further linked to nature-based activities, STEAM education, and creative arts in the curriculum to provide a wholesome educational experience that cares for cognitive, social, and emotional growth.
JDDA 2024
Urban Jungle Play School will strive to deliver an invigorating environment that will enhance the time spent in this setting through an appreciation of nature and an embracement of the energy and excitement of city life. It merges these two worlds into a unique, truly immersive educational experience, where children go on exciting adventures with lifelong memories surrounded by lush greenery and diverse ecosystems.
The concept is very nature-friendly in that the design uses mostly natural materials and stewardship of the environment through its eco-elements to physically prove an otherwise visually appealing space. The totality of this approach does not focus simply on the aesthetic features but offers hands-on and interactive experiential learning opportunities that inculcate love and respect for nature in the youth and inspire them to be good stewards of the earth in the future.
The Urban Jungle Play School is much more than a physical space—it represents imagination, exploration, and connection. Portraying what the future of education might be like if creativity were to mate with innovation helps foster a world-class learning environment whose very design will make children curious and full of desire to learn.
Shashank S M
MSc in Interior Design, Bangalore
www.jddesignawards.com