Playmaze, Chicago Children’s Museum
Peter J. Exley Architect, Chicago, Illinois, 1996
Description
This early childhood exhibit celebrates the importance and power of play. Crucial to the success of Playmaze is the way it communicates a fantastic environment in a way visitors visually and spatially understand. Ironically, young children do not relate to “cute” comic book forms or the complex perspective distortions often prevalent in this type of environment; hence, our more literal approach with form, color, and graphics.
Specially developed for children up to six years of age and their caregivers, Playmaze is designed as a colorful city teeming with activities and opportunities for fun and learning. Exploring familiar places and everyday objects, the exhibits demystify daily experiences from which children are usually sheltered. Incorporating role-playing and interaction with adults, Playmaze assits children in their development of a sense of ownership, attachment, security, and place identity to the world around them.
Credits
- Design firm
- Peter J. Exley Architect
- Project manager
- Louise Belmont-Skinner
- Designer
- Peter J. Exley Achitect
- Software
- Raul M. Silva, Peter J. Exley
- Photographer
- Doug Snower Photography
- Fabrication
- Exhibit Partners, Inc., LaBrosse Ltd.
- Client
- Chicago Children’s Museum