The Children's Pod Model
This project by far is my pride and joy, and it takes a special place in my heart as I carefully designed each and every details of it for the children, whom I got the pleasure to get to know during our visit to the shelter. This project was designed for my Form, Space, and Order class at Savannah College of Art and Design Atlanta Campus.
This pod was designed for the children at the Solomon's Temple Foundation, located south of Atlanta, Georgia. Solomon's Temple is a shelter that provides food, housing, and support for homeless women and their children, while they are trying to get back on their feet. The user of this pod are children of wide age range, from preschool age to teenagers. Patricia Smith, the executive director also requested this space to be a fun and creative space while teaching life skills and different career choices.
"The hope is that this pod's incorporation of career inspiring elements through play will give the children the tools to help lay the foundation for the children of Solomon's Temple to become successful members of society".
- Patricia Smith, The Executive Director of Solomon's Temple
The concept of this design is "light possibilities" The use of different openings of the pod allows light to create many distinct possibilities of shadows that are playful and will invoke curiosity and imagination of the users. The objective of this pod is to teach the children about future career though the act of play. It is designed to be a space for comfort, creativity, community, and self-actualization. With these activities, they will not only learn about career but also about who they are as a person and how to express their sense of self-identity. Each time they are interact within the space, they will get a "light" does of possibility and creativity, which will ultimately add up and help them see their potential and endless possibilities in life, the same way light creates endless possibilities for shadows that enter their play space.
This model was made at 1"= 1' 0" scale. The overall dimension of the pod is 11"-3" long x 8' 9" wide x 8' 0" high. There are two levels inside this pod. To see the original models and the process, please keep scrolling or click here!
o v e r v i e w
d e t a i l s
Interactive wall: Clear dry erase board and life-size magnetic scrabble board
Left side wall features narrow diagonal windows
Back wall features an interactive colorful life-sized pinscreen and the window of the second floor. Scaled person is 4 feet high.
Top view: showing the floor plan and the structure of the pod
Detail shot showing the career illustration on the floor. Each decal are removable to allow flexibility and creativity.
Detail shot showing the second level reading nook
The use of clear acrylic scaled human figures helps understand the proportion without disrupting the design.
Detail shot of one of the reading tunnels on the first floor and the tunnel window looking through the pinscreen of the back wall, which allows light and color into the space. It also plays with the idea of the difference in perspective in life as the person outside create one thing, but from inside the tunnel, another person would see it differently.
The inside of the left side wall features a Lego wall where there will be a Lego City with different occupation, such as police, doctor, chef, etc. and a magnetic wall
Photo by Daniela Andujo (@dani_andujo)
This project is a collaboration between Solomon's Temple Foundation and Savannah College of Art and Design Atlanta Campus. With your help, this pod will be brought to life for the children! To learn more and help make a difference, visit Solomon's Temple Foundation.
t h e p r o c e s s
cut & tear model - first model
This cut & tear model was the first model I made in this process after brainstorming and sketching the design. This pod was made out of regular printer paper at the scale of 1/2"=1' 0". This is one of the most important step as it is when everything was translated from 2 dimensional sketches into a 3 Dimensional form.
Developed model - second model
This model was developed further from the first cut & tear model above with a few adjustment made to the design and the structure of the building. This model is made of balsa wood to present the material of the pod. This pod was also built at 1"=1' 0".
This model was the final model I presented to the judges, and it was the model that won me first place.
After the result, the two winning designs were asked to build another model out of the actual materials that will be used for the construction. It must represents how the pod will be built on the site.
