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Building dreams, drawing plans
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A house is what children draw when they first start doodling.
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Anil Bhaskaran's objective is to help children draw and make models of houses they dream of
IF YOU'RE wondering why kids these days are so smart, it's because they're in an age where there is so much sharing of knowledge. We don't have simple drawing and painting competitions where the reward the best artist gets is a pat on the back and a certificate in the hand from a benign chief guest. No sir, now we have competitions with themes and the prizes are big.
Certainly, it is nice to have so many professionals making time for children. Architect and urban planner Anil Bhaskaran has come up with the idea of having a painting competition with a difference. No wonder his architecture firm is called Idea Centre! "Over the years, children's sketch of houses and cities have fascinated me and has given me useful insights," reveals the architect, who still remembers vividly the sketches of houses he drew as a child. And so, in a reciprocal gesture, he is conducting a free workshop, My Dream House, My Dream City, for children in the six to14 age group at Hippocampus today between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
The objective is to help the children to draw and make models of houses they dream of. The architect will be teaching them the rudiments of drawing three-dimensional spaces like a house or city. The workshop will also help in identifying children who have exceptional imagination in visualising a house and a city.
"A house is what children draw when they first start doodling. A house is what a child first relates to as his or her own. Through this workshop we hope to give them the courage to dream. They may come up with totally imaginary homes, a Shangri-La maybe, but the process is sure to stay with them even in their adulthood," Anil.
But aren't six-year olds a bit too young to be learning about architecture? Explains Anil: "This isn't about architecture, it is about sparking off ideas, and no age is too small for that. Children have to start looking at their city as a macro-level home, as an extension of their own house. This will happen only when we start speaking to them as early as possible that the thought of home should include thinking about the city's landscape. Just like how a writer's fictional story evokes realistic emotions from the readers, so will fictional drawings by children help them with the real life in future. The workshop is an opportunity for the kids to put down their fantasies on paper for later."
Anil will be talking to the children about what comprises a house and a city, traditional houses, modern houses, planning and maintaining houses and cities, being responsible citizens, dos and don'ts in planning buildings and about the materials that go into a building.
The workshop will be followed by a drawing and painting competition on the themes My Dream House and My Dream City, and attractive prizes will be given to children who do well. This workshop, the first in the series planned by the architect, is at the Hippocampus Children's Company, an experience centre located at Koramangala.
For details and registration, please contact Shilpashree at 98451-20700.
MALA KUMAR
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