A Study on the Public Culture Space of Children in Biophilia

This study begins with Biophilia advocated by Erich Fromm, a first-generation scholar of the Frankfurt School who diagnosed the alienation of Western modern society, which has developed based on blind faith in reason and rationality. Based on a biophilia philosophical review of life-loving attitudes and values, we would like to study the characteristics and examples of biophilia public cultural spaces that communicate and have appropriate relationships in children’s growth stages. The city, which has been pursuing convenience and efficiency, has created a space that is cut off from environmental pollution. Research is needed on public cultural spaces where children can interact and have creative experiences in order to communicate with society and grow. Through examining the historical background and issues of Biophilia philosophy and reviewing the literature between various interdisciplinary institutions, we derived the components and characteristics-locality, sustainability, experience orientated, flexibility, playfulness, neutrality, totality- of the biophilia children’s public cultural space that can realize community education at the local level. Based on this, in order to identify the most contemporary design trends, we selected cases that have won awards in architecture and modern art since the 2000s or contributed to the growth of the community through the literature of a group of public space experts, to study geographically and culturally diverse cases, we analyzed the background, content, and implications of the cases in Northwestern Europe as well as in the United States and Africa. The results of the case analysis are as follows. First, most of the spaces have become joyful and participatory community spaces by opening up the possibility of various experiences and events. Second, the boundary between private and public spaces was opened so that children could use space equally by connecting local ground, materials, and people. Finally, in order to restore humanity, efforts to harmonize and space for children should be provided. Furthermore, it is hoped that this study can contribute to laying the discourse foundation for the role of public cultural spaces and the practice and direction at the regional level.