Sensibility Enriched – “Mama Smile”

Compiled by Savitha Hira

Photography: Daisuke Shima / Nacasa & Partners; courtesy the architect

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Emmanuelle Moureaux Architecture + Design carve out “Mama Smile” - a colourful miniature world of learning-integrated comfort for toddlers and their developing minds…

In a mall in Mito, Japan, is this conscientious fun effort of designer-client collaboration to bring much-needed relief to young moms, who are outdoors with their little munchkins. Designer Emmanuelle Moureaux, known for her theoretical and psychological applications with colour in design, ushers in a ‘miniature-world-within-the-little-world’ of children up to the age of 10 years.

 

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‘Mama Smile’ is an indoor playground facility that also houses a day nursery designed around the central theme of security that a child feels within his home.   So, we have 459 sq. m. of area dedicated to this effort in the mall, where the facility is approached via a large cut-out, shaped like a child-drawn house, opening through a white wall.

 

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What seems ordinary on the outside, opens up to reveal a dream for the young ones as a colourful world, with houses in 7 colours in the shades of yellow, pink, green, and blue.  Akin to a miniature town for visitors, different facilities divide the space, creating a meandering and intriguing appeal, where the young ones discover different areas from the gap of back alleys and between the houses.

 

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"Area for Everyone (minna-no-hiroba)" is available for various events such as birthday parties, "Area for Events (ibento-hiroba)" for game and dance events, the area with air jumper equipments provides space for children to run around, and the "Area for Crawling (hai-hai-hiroba)" for babies and the adjacent cafe space with floor cushion is for adults to stay on the same eye level as the children...   

 

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With "Mama Smile", adults can watch over children playing freely in peace and it is hoped that children will build up their rich sensibility in a space full of colours.