Kaunas Architecture Festival for Children
Gabriele Janilionyte
Egle Januskiene
Audrone Miliene
Daiva Pitrenaite
Goda Pomeranceva
Elvyra Pozlevic
Lina Pranaityte
Algirdas Ramonas
Indre Razuleviciene
Justina Zemaityte-Zastartiene
Our team consists of architects, urban planners, interdisciplinary artists, educators, researchers, and communication representatives. We are a team that aims to draw children's attention to the environment around them, promote responsibility and care for it, and develop children's critical thinking, creativity, and their ability to recognize quality architecture through various education and activities. Our values are cooperation and openness, interdisciplinary, respect for architecture, the surrounding environment, nature and heritage, listening and adapting to children's needs, continuous improvement. Our vision is that children are not only future architects, but also future clients of architects, nurturing and responsibly creating the environment - where they live now and for future generations, learning to express themselves, understanding their own and others' needs, looking critically and willingly into ongoing processes and creating a more sustainable future.
We present the Architecture Festival for Children organized for the third consecutive year in Kaunas. It is an open and free event where children and families of different ages have the opportunity to learn about architecture, the urban environment and the professions of architecture through practical activities. This year's festival "City as a Puzzle" is dedicated to the cities. Various current studies emphasize the aim of developing not only children's creativity, but also to promote their civic engagement in urban design. By helping children become interested in architecture and landscape, we aim to make them better aware of the environment around them and want to contribute to its creation now and in the future. According to authors such as Jürgen Habermas or Patsy Healey, greater involvement of residents in urban planning can create a more democratic, just and equal living environment. Sociologist Richard Sennett also writes about the influence of different scales of the environment on strengthening children's independence and sense of responsibility.
By using the festival as a platform for children, we encourage everyone to think about how important their everyday lives and thoughts are; in what ways could we adapt public spaces to children's spontaneous behaviour; how to create safe squares and streets where children could play. After all, according to one of the most famous creators of children's playgrounds, Aldo van Eyck - if a city does not take care of children, it cannot be called a city. In this festival, we invite children to become researchers, architects, artists and storytellers, to discover together what the city is made of and how we all shape it. During the festival, interactive education, excursions and creative workshops will be held, led by architects, urban planners, artists and landscape specialists.