DreamScape: Building Hope Through Modular Playgrounds for Refugee Children

In the heart of the world's largest refugee settlement, a beacon of hope and joy rises amidst the hardship. DreamScape, a revolutionary modular playground designed by Hyeyeong Shin and Heesoo Jin, winner of the Re-imagining Play competition, offers children in the Dadaab Refugee Camp a chance to reclaim their childhood. This innovative project, titled "Building Hope, Crafting Dreams: Children's Modular Playground of Possibilities," exemplifies how thoughtful design can transform lives. This article explores the concept, design, and impact of DreamScape, highlighting its potential to bring joy and development to children living in dire circumstances.

The Tragic Situation at Dadaab Refugee Camp

Unending political, religious conflicts, and disputes have given rise to refugees in various regions. The Dadaab Refugee Camp, the world's largest refugee settlement formed in the 1990s when Somali refugees converged, has long exceeded its capacity due to ongoing conflicts and climate change. Women and children fled the war in search of new hope, but they still live there in makeshift huts made of sticks and plastic sheets. The most crucial hope for overcoming these difficult realities lies in the children. However, there are many children in need of education, but schools are severely lacking, and many children on the front lines of survival are unable to attend school, spending their days passively.

DreamScape: A Modular Space for Children

War and drought have taken away from these children the comfort of a home, and laughter with parents and friends. These tragic issues of reality must not rob children of their dreams and futures. We aimed to design play equipment that would allow children to have pure fun while simultaneously realizing their potential through cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development. We designed a more straightforward yet complex and spatially intriguing modular structure that encourages children to actively experience and transform the space. Children will enjoy various movements and activities, enhancing their latent abilities and enabling them to move beyond trauma and embrace new hope.

Simple Shapes, Endless Play: DreamScape for Refugee Children

A module made up of simple shapes like squares and isosceles triangles may be simple, but it evokes spatial interest. From various angles, children will enjoy different views and freely roll, assemble, and manipulate the module with their own hands, creating a large space for themselves. They will climb, hang, roll, and explore the space to their hearts' content.

Familiar Play in Unfamiliar Places

Although there are no playgrounds or play equipment, this module is not unfamiliar to the children of Dadaab, who spend their days rolling and playing with visible objects. This module allows children to approach it with familiarity while understanding its geometric structure, experiencing the space, and having fun. Children will gain mental and physical development that was not possible in previous limited forms of play as they play freely. Furthermore, they can enhance their imagination, problem-solving skills, and cooperation abilities as they transform the space with their friends.

Building Dreams: Hope for Refugees

This module will give hope to refugees who previously built houses only for survival, enabling them to build their dreams.

Site Planning

DreamScape is very easy to install and assemble, making it versatile and adaptable to any location. It can be set up in any open space large enough for children to play, with various sites accessible to a wide range of children. The following map shows the layout of the Ifo district within Dadaab. This area is surrounded by many residential blocks and has excellent accessibility to markets, schools, and camp facilities, making it easy for children from diverse backgrounds to come and play together.

Components and Assembly of the Module

There are five kinds of components in the module of DreamScape:

Wood: Main Structure - Different functions and shapes (square timber, structure elements, linear or diagonal, joint parts as the key joint of the unit structure).

Plastic: Bars - Three different functions and two different shapes (stepladder to climb up, monkey bars to move around, resting roof to take a rest, inserting mechanism).

Solid Materials - Several shapes in two different materials (fabric as a flexible material used as a hammock, plastic as a sturdy material used for safety guard and resting area, connecting to the structure with clip joints).

Mesh - Two different functions and shapes (net ladder to climb up, semi-surface to rest like in a hammock).

Joints - Key components for assembling the various parts.

These five components can be combined in numerous ways to create versatile play structures. The following are sample structures demonstrating different combinations:

Type A: Supporting structure with two columns and two joints of diagonal components.

Type B: Supporting structure with two columns and two joints of diagonal components, rotated 90 degrees.

Module Scale and Behavior

We have installed joints at a basic spacing of 400 mm to allow children of various ages (under 9 years old) to enjoy different physical movements. These joints can accommodate freely installing triangles, nets, fabrics, and wooden climbers. The module was designed for children to behave in various ways—hanging, climbing, tumbling, or speculating. These behaviors are not defined by any others but by the children themselves. The climber, net, and fabric can be set differently by the children's hands, allowing them to personalize their play experience.

The module itself also works as a puzzle, as it can be assembled and stacked easily by children. It will give them the freedom to imagine and the chance to cooperate and communicate with friends.

Dimensions and Structural Detail

The following drawings provide structural details containing dimensions for the assembly of DreamScape. The precision in these designs ensures the safety and durability of the playground, enabling children to explore and play without concerns about structural integrity.

DreamScape stands as a testament to the power of design in transforming lives. By providing a modular playground for the children of the Dadaab Refugee Camp, this project brings hope, joy, and developmental opportunities to those who need it most. The simple yet versatile design encourages children to engage in physical, cognitive, and social activities, helping them overcome trauma and build a brighter future. DreamScape not only creates a space for play but also fosters dreams and aspirations, proving that even in the most challenging environments, architecture can make a profound difference.