art. 915 basic module with counter top, shaped

cooking elements in wood, stainless steel

sink, and three birch shelves

50 x 150 x 132 cm

The tremendous importance of play in the life

of children and of adults is now universally

recognized; still under debate, however, is

the meaning of dramatic play in a child’s

experience. It appears that this kind of play

is interesting not because it “traces” that

which has happened (the past), but because

it expresses the way in which the young child

confronts and interprets the selfsame experience

in which he or she is involved.

From this emerges the importance of a type

of education that is capable of recognizing

and fostering (also through play) the symbolic

instrumentation that young children are

developing. Thus, placing value on young children’s

symbolic production means supporting

and expanding what children produce,

and that is, creating occasions, opportunities

and contexts that permit the children to

express themselves and to learn.

One of the play areas children most frequently

seek out and appreciate is the playhouse.

Ideally, a child should be offered not a house

that has been defined in minute detail, but an

archetypal object that evokes the possibilities

of a house without conditioning the child’s

inventiveness or creativity, or influencing

any modifications that the individual child or

group of children might want to make.

More than anything else, the playhouse must

be an evocative place, a theater of possible

representations, where objects suggest a

story that unfolds into multiple plots through

the children’s own interactions, modifications,

and negations.

This piece simulates a home environment

and can be used

to construct a protected space where

children can hide, make up stories

and situations, play role games, experiment

with (and also subvert)

adult behavior.

When the folding house is closed,

it occupies an area of only 56 x 150

cm. When it is opened up it becomes

a real space, with windows that open

and close and an entrance that can be

closed off by a curtain. When open, the

house occupies an area of 200 x 150

cm; when that same space is needed

for other activities, the house is simply

closed up once more.

The micro-perforated wall creates light

patterns on the floor.

When closed, the house can be used

for storing objects and games.

It can also be stored in another part

of the school.