108 (learning)
Education in enjoyable surroundings.
France, Paris
Cafezoïde – Playground café By Cafezoïde association www.cafezoide.asso.fr
Solution
The benefits
Café Zoïde is a combination of a neighbourhood workshop and a café, independent from the school system but providing educational yet liberating surroundings for children. The scheme offers a playground for families, art courses and exhibitions, help for foreign parents and children, a café based on exchange and participation, and a library of information. It is also a dynamic and convivial influence on the neighbourhood.
Society. Café Zoïde allows children to develop into individuals in a very open-minded and unconventional way. It treats children as people and helps them to find a way to communicate with adults and children of any age and cultural background in their own way. It is now an essential meeting point for families from the neighbourhood, deeply involved in the everyday life of the community.
Context A group of people decided to create a warm place to go in the winter, where young people could meet and play. They also formed an artists’ studio, where they exhibit and promote young people’s work, and a place where families can meet and interact. Building a café focusing on a specific target audience, in this case children, is an easy and positive thing to replicate elsewhere – all it needs is a well-functioning team of people that concentrate on the specific needs of the customers. And, of course, giving children of all ages a place where they can play, learn and grow as individuals is always positive and would benefit any community.
Environment. Even though there are no obvious benefits to the environment, the people and children of Café Zoïde try to contribute to saving our planet. They try to use biodegradable materials for their various projects, consume fair-trade products, take care of the green area of Paris and their immediate surroundings and, in particular, try to instil the value of the environment in the children. Economy. The town-hall of the 19th arrondissement supports the project financially and by donating space. Still, the Café Zoïde-team hopes to be independent soon to be free of conventional bureaucratic rules. Being independent without diminishing the positive image of the association is very important to all involved. They do not want to turn this project into a business for fear of losing the spirit of a community-project.
Current situation Started as a unique café in Paris in 1997, Café Zoide is now developing a concept that can replicate the idea in other neighbourhoods. The organisation is financed by subsidies and other small contributions, which could be boosted by selling the children’s artwork or promoting the organisation more efficiently.
The experience
Design challenges
For the children, the pleasure of playing in a joyful place with the feeling of being independent
Conceiving multi-service centres to merge complementary functions . Designing furniture, communication items, tools and infrastructures to help children become independent and skilled.
Authors ENSCI Les Ateliers, Paris, France Patricia Zapfl