CHILDREN'S UNIVERSITY

“Tech gives the quietest student a voice.” – Jerry Blumengarten
 
TECH_KIDS is an interactive learning landscape designed to address a specific problem in the site society.  The rising technology addiction and the way children have been misusing the great technologies within their hands to impact their psyche, mental health, and even their futures is enormous. TECH-kids proposed a well-studied plan to solve the problem from its roots. The TECH_KIDS curriculum involves a wide range of activities that adjust the children's way of observing technology by introducing them to better uses. Making their robotic machine, while designing id from A to Z, generating their music, coding labs, and a multidisciplinary class that updates its projects from time to time to break the routine. To create a wholistic result, parents will be also invited to attend seminars addressing the disasters of video games and their addiction made by AGU psychology students. Moreover, for the sake of encouraging nearby school students and other parents to get involved in this project, workshops and exhibitions are organized.
 
TECH-KIDS is divided into two main zones, one is for public use while the other one is for private use, and they are separated by a library. The library is covered with a semi-dome geodesic structure glazed with glass and kinetic photovoltaic cladding. The responsive dome opens and closes in response to the sun's movement. The movement of the photovoltaic cladding creates a great atmosphere inside the library with the play of light and shadow. It also reduces solar gain by more than 50 percent, and reduces the need for air conditioning, creating a more comfortable internal environment for reading in the library. In addition, the second floor has a great panoramic view of Sumer blv. and the mountain of Erciyes. The private zone hosts the university’s children's activities. It consists of three main classes, teachers and administrative lounge, canteen, kitchen, health room, bathrooms, and a wide lobby. The teacher's lounge includes a private bathroom, a kitchenette, administer room, and is opened to a small courtyard that leads to the kid's courtyard. The canteen is designed with a kitchen and is opened to the courtyard with an exterior seating space. The public zone host one multifunctional hall with flexible interior elements to meet different functions. It also has a small cantine with some beverages and snacks that is opened to the garden. The garden in front of the multifunctional hall is set for summer public activities.
 
The used material for facade cladding is different matt colors of polycarbonate sheet panels. Each class is designated with a specific color, whereas the entrance and the canteen have mixed colors. To make the administration lounge more recognizable, a normal polycarbonate sheet is used. Moreover, the multifunctional hall is cladded also with neutral colored sheets. The use of polycarbonate sheets naturally diffuses light to the interior and is thermally insulated and perfect for the severe weather of Kayseri and cost-effective. Finally, the curved structure of the roof is cladded with prefabricated glass fiber reinforced concrete panels, chosen for its lightweight.