Architectural Concerns in Children’ Educational SpacesA Comparative Study in Tehran and Toronto

Children have many significant roles in their surrounding environments. They alter, modify and recreate spaces they are involved. Today many important architects employ children in the very first stages of their architectural creations. Children are considered as elements of spaces specifically spaces allocated to them, namely kindergartens. However in Iran kindergartens are not constructed based on this namely group’s needs and wills. Children are ignored and not evaluated as the primarily components of the formation of these spaces. In this article the named issue is studied through a survey of 5 different kindergartens built in Tehran and compared with 5 others in Toronto Canada. The Christopher Day theory, observation and interviews have been applied and therefore employed in different studied kindergartens in Tehran. Results indicate architecture for children is related to education, art and design creation. According to the named necessary children concerns, it is shown that most kindergartens in Iran are designed regardless of basic children needs.