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Many Happy re-Turns,  | International Design Awards Winners
Many Happy re-Turns,  | International Design Awards Winners
Many Happy re-Turns,  | International Design Awards Winners
Many Happy re-Turns,  | International Design Awards Winners
Many Happy re-Turns,  | International Design Awards Winners
Many Happy re-Turns,  | International Design Awards Winners
Many Happy re-Turns,  | International Design Awards Winners
Many Happy re-Turns,  | International Design Awards Winners
Many Happy re-Turns,  | International Design Awards Winners
Many Happy re-Turns,  | International Design Awards Winners
Many Happy re-Turns,  | International Design Awards Winners

Many Happy re-Turns

Lead DesignersKonstantinos-Alketas Oungrinis
Prize(s)Silver in Other Products Designs / Other Products designs
Entry Description

Many Happy re-Turns is an object designed to materially facilitate the "learning through play" pedagogical approach and generate the possibilities for children to infuse imaginative play into their everyday living and educational environments. It is a single yet highly transformative element that creates the possibilities for playful interaction and communication by providing seven basic spatial configurations, as a single object, and open-ended settings for two or more, limited only by the imagination. The object is initially presented as a chair, baring a number of morphological influences that trigger a child’s imagination. When children begin to turn it over, and over, they begin to identify in it a variety of known shapes, ranging from animals (elephant, turtle, dove) to archetypical forms (house, milk box, boat). When more Many Happy re-Turns modules come together in a group, the result follows the activities of the children, assisting them in play scenarios, play personalities, play patterns and zones. This creates the conditions for a variety of play modes comprised of construction play, fantasy play, creative play, symbolic play and play with rules, through individual, parallel, onlooking and group activities. During all these interactions, children are presented with different opportunities to develop and fine-tune their developmental skills and abilities. The form of the object was designed so that it can be easily pushed, rolled, lifted and re-located by children, as well as to get nested by grown-ups in order to save space when it is not used. It is all made of corrugated cardboard. The colorful sides where made to increase variety. The blackboard surface was added to help personalize the teaching process. As an object it is very rigid, yet lightweight, and most-importantly safe for children, who can very easily get familiar with its scale. Grown-ups can also use it as a seat.

Bio

TUC TIE Lab was founded in 2012 on the basis of researching, developing and applying human-centered methodologies that target the qualitative upgrade and efficiency of a variety of environments, including learning spaces and playscapes, health environments, habitable extreme environments and cultural spaces. It employs contemporary maker practices, interdisciplinary research approaches and participatory design techniques to explore flexibility, adaptability and transformability in space. Buildings, spaces, equipment and materials are all treated as platforms with a dynamic spatial imprint.

Awards and Prize

TUC TIE Lab has made its international mark in the academic and research community through many interdisciplinary conferences and publications, as well as through national and international exhibitions. Moreover, for three years in a row, TUC TIE Lab projects have been distinguished with high-level ranking at the University Student Entrepreneurship-UNISTEP PLUS Projects. Additionally, the lab received the Silver Award at the International Design Awards in 2014 for its “Many Happy Re-turns” project for children, the Bronze Award at the Greek national Healthcare Business Awards in 2016 for the design of a multisensory healing room at the General Hospital of Chania and two Gold Awards at the EDUCATION LEADERS AWARDS for the design of learning spaces.