2014 Children, Youth and Environments Children, Youth and Environments 24(3), 2014 Nurseries: A Design Guide Mark Dudek (2013). New York: Routledge, 197 pages. $53.95 (paperback); ISBN 978-0-7506-6951-1. Winston Churchill said, “We shape our dwellings and afterwards our dwellings shape us.” Although Churchill was referring to rebuilding the House of Commons after heavy bombing during the Battle of Britain, his words hold true, especially when thinking about designing spaces for young children. We are all impacted—either positively or negatively—by the environments and physical spaces that surround us. In the book, Nurseries: A Design Guide, author and architect Mark Dudek examines the link between the architectural design of a nursery space and the impact on children’s development and learning. According to Dudek, there is compelling evidence of the importance of environmental psychology when creating children’s environments. Dudek points to the research on color, natural light, and noise levels as well as security and visual transparency and their subsequent influence on children’s orientation and learning. Children who abide in well-designed spaces which have effectively addressed these elements thrive compared to children in low quality environments. The author discusses the sustainable nursery including the sustained appeal for children of open-ended play environments (i.e., a tangled tree trunk) compared to the traditional slide and swings. Dudek believes sustainability also mandates that designers and architects understand the pedagogy and curriculum of the nursery in order to design effective and efficient spaces for children. Using the emergent curriculum approach, for example, requires spaces that can be easily rearranged and reconfigured to align with the children’s interests and projects. Finally, in this sustainability section of the book, the author offers a checklist of typical sustainability issues, such as heating systems, building materials, sun control, and ventilation. Today’s children—especially those living in urban communities—are growing up on the feel of plastic and the smell of cement. Children’s cohabitation with nature, the ability to move about independently in nature places, and opportunities for rigorous outdoor play has dwindled over the past several decades. Dudek called for a greater awareness of the importance and benefits of children being outside. He was emphatic about children needing experiences that heighten emotions such as wonder, joy, and excitement and suggested designers view themselves as terrorists, “planting little time bombs of thoughtful, complex play spaces which are full of sensory delight” (108). Book Review: Nurseries: A Design Guide 246 Dudek provided an historical overview of key educational innovators who first recognized the importance of children’s environments. In the early 1900s, Margaret McMillian and Marie Montessori advocated for outdoor sanctuaries and pavilions that led directly to the outside so children could “run in—run out” as they pleased. Also a believer in free and independent play, Susan Isaacs campaigned for large open areas and gardens for children to explore. These early childhood advocates stressed that inside environments should include child-sized furniture with cozy, soft spaces that are open, airy, and designed to meet children’s individual needs. Although some of these elements appear in today’s nurseries, Dudek contends that issues of health and safety contribute to a somewhat austere environment which includes “clean, hard lines and often brutally honest materiality, such as exposed concrete or structural steel” (139). This highly illustrated design guide helps the reader understand the underlying historical educational theories and how they can be realized through architecture. It also links children’s positive growth and learning to high quality and welldesigned environments. At the end of each chapter, the reader finds a systematic designer’s checklist of ideas and features, distilled from the text. The guide provides strategies on how to design for children’s play and gives practical examples of how children relate to the environment in a positive way. Through the use of authentic examples, illustrative photographs, and understandable sketches, this book offers a broad and unique perspective on the design of nurseries. Nurseries: A Design Guide is valuable reading for architects, teachers, landscapers, policymakers, early childhood practitioners, child development experts, psychologists, sociologists, school administrators, principals, community activists, parents, city planners in local and national government, and anyone involved...
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Nov 12, 2024
Julie V Gottlieb 
Just Published
Open Access