‘Murgel’s Playhouse’ has been a meeting place for children on holiday and locals for many years. The conversion and expansion of the rooms was intended to make the ‘playhouse’ more appealing to children and reinforce its roots within the community. The concept, which consists of the four elements of water, earth, fire and air, was based on nature and the myths and legends of the Black Forest. It was implemented in cooperation with the municipality of Baiersbronn and their primary school children. The children participated in special workshops where they created and drew different figures and their habitats. These figures were then taken as the inspiration for the rooms of the playhouse.
A new playhouse for Murgel and his friends from the Black Forest. Children are the experts when it comes to their own needs. We explored the transformative potential of their fantasy worlds in various workshops, and we added another part to Baiersbronn’s local fairy tale about Murgel: the story of the four forest creatures. This story became the starting point for the renovation work in Murgel’s Playhouse. Together with the children from Baiersbronn and the surroundings, we want to give Murgel’s playhouse a new face.
We organised two workshops in which children could show us their fantasy worlds with Murgel and his adventures in the Black Forest through crafts and games. In the first workshop, the children formed groups to paint the four forest creatures and describe their characteristics. In the second workshop, we built peep boxes with the children to give us an insight into the world of each forest creature. As architects, we listened to the stories of the children in order to understand their sensory qualities and develop the interior architecture.
The children’s ideas helped us draft a specific design for the transformation of Murgel’s playhouse. We believe that by involving the future users (children), they will identify more strongly with the place, so that all the children in Baiersbronn will speak of their playhouse with pride.