As designers we saw the opportunity to build an afterschool space for underserved urban cities that creates a safe, explorative environment for children to play and learn in the way they choose. Our main target audience is 8-10 year olds in urban communities, but the space is open to the public to us as a space to work on homework and other projects afterschool and create and build friendships.
So we created The Loop. The Loop is a multifunctional afterschool space for kids to explore, play, and grow. It functions as a traveling environment that stays in urban areas for a school semester. The Loop is currently just an idea and created in model form at the moment.
As designers we believe that functional, adaptable design encourages exploration and growth.Integrating flexibility in design gives users agency. This in turn fosters imagination, promotes development, and helps people to engage in creative problem-solving. Creating useful designs requiresma deep understanding of a user and their needs. Ultimately, design is empathy with action. And we think The Loop embodies this concept to the fullest.
And a special shout out to my teammates on this project: Emeli Bagwel, Elise Frauenholtz,
and Sydney Krauth. For The Loop, I designed, rendered and produced all the 3D elements of the building, painting the elements, and putting them together in a cohesive manner. I also helped with research of what our team wanted the create, hypothetical partners, and how The Loop would function.