My Place….

…..has an open concept kitchen, a loft bedroom (with a ladder to go up) a bedroom and an office den with a desk and laptop computer.

……is a spooky funhouse, with a hanging skeleton, a bouncy bunk bed and various resident ghouls.

…is a witch doctor's palace, with a central elevated spell platform and fenced off nook rooms for each family member.

…has a video game table with room for the console and three controllers and an attached jumbo screen.

….has a platform bed with a window view, a computer desk and wall mounted screen and a shower unit.

……is a fashion-themed penthouse with a lipstick shaped bed and chair, a large walk-in closet and a room for cats and dogs (with a central dividing wall).

---has a comfy lying area with two stuffed pillows, a storage area and a sink and can fold up!

…is actually a jet plane with a steering wheel and reinforced seat.

---has a multi-legged table which is sturdy enough to hold a person! After dinner, it can be flipped over and can be used as a hoop throwing carnival game!

…has a trampoline, a boxing set personal trainer, a 32" TV in the bedroom, a velvet cushion armchair on wheels, a cheetah-sheeted queen-sized bed with a skylight over it, lots of plants on the balcony, a free food service, a disco-shower with a built in mirror ball and boom box unit and heated bathroom floor.

…has an inside treehouse, a pool table, a chalk room, a purple and pink bunk bed, a trampoline, a flat screen TV, skinny boxes, a make-up room, separate walk-in closets for the girls and the boys,a play kitchen and a hot tub.

Setting the scene

The audience is waiting. Lights dimmed.Cellphones off. A hush through the theatre. The curtains draw back….

Stars twinkle down on a crackling campfire in this outdoor scene.

This week we captured that magical moment with our set design workshop. The challenge: how to make a story come alive on stage. In this workshop we are set designers and production managers.

Since kids are instantly compelled to imagine stories, they easily grasped the idea of using a scenic back-drop to establish the time and place of a play.

A good set can also give dramatic context for the mood of a story. How can we use the space, colours, textures, shapes to create a particular atmosphere? Is the story scary, funny or just plain weird?
This gloomy blackened interior had a touch of Ibsen about it…

And sometimes, a set can also give us hints about the characters.

Amongst these puppets, the protagonist is an aspiring mad scientist -who turns her bedroom into a laboratory. The table in her bedroom is filled with test tubes and beakers.

Three of our student designers decided to tackle Jurassic Park. One of them ambitiously merged Jurassic Park with Star Wars and embarked on a fusion set. We were impressed at how three children working side by side, happily created their own designs on the same theme, with enthusiastic cross-pollination. In one Jurassic park, the set was multi-purpose. One configuration showed a lush prehistoric forest. Flip the flooring over and reverse the trees and you get a sleek research laboratory. This student took on the challenge to create a set that transforms over time. 

Nice foreground layering elements- add to the depth in this forest.

Some of our designers used the set to create a story of their own: Good day, bad day. The narrative arose out of the design. This part of the set shows Boby Joy's bedroom, with a fake turf play area. 

And this set, with its blocky characters is based on the computer game Minecraft. A team of designers brainstormed on how to turn this video activity into a stage concept. 

Stairs pass through the foreground into the audience.

Life in the trees

One of our challenges this week was to plan and build an animal treehouse. After picking a creature -real or mythical, the kids started off by drafting a plan. This was a 2D bird's eye view or a side view. Every creature needs a good lookout and somewhere to stash their food, so we encouraged the addition of windows, doors, connecting stairs or corridors and furniture to define the different rooms.

                                         Here are some of the ideas:

This dragon den includes a surround view flying dome.

Many of the plans had modular components connected by tunnels. 

These lucky ants have an amusement park on hand.

"Hang-outs" featured prominently on many of the plans. 

This locust house has a hotel add-on for guests. 

This rabbit tree-warren connects to the ground-level burrow and has a nursery area for baby rabbits. 

A multi-level cat treehouse with climb zone, scratch post walkways and a relaxing lounge. 

Alternative sketches for hanging squirrel dens

At the end of this landscaping session we challenged the kids to transform their blueprint into a 3D model of their treehouse. Architectural prototyping requires spatial perception, mathematical thinking and basic crafting skills. Offering a limited selection of found materials to build with (in this case picnic ware: plates, cups, forks, spoons and coffee stirrers) makes this modelling task a little trickier. It requires exploration of how the materials connect, flex and balance. As play-doh and tape were involved, also a lot of fun!

Some students enjoyed experimenting with the materials to move beyond their 2D plans :

How high can this squirrel house possibly go? 

This student decided to plan an underwater treehouse. Here's her fish fountain. 

A cascading slide will connect the swim layers.

Ramps and spring-boards featured in this attractive squirrel-drome. Interesting geometry!

Construction team.

Working it out together