The dictionary defines the word “develop” as “bringing something to full growth” or “imparting civilisation and knowledge, shaping.” You develop from a baby into a toddler, then into a young child, and grow from a child into a teenager and eventually a young adult. Even as adults, personal development remains incredibly important. We need to keep learning and experimenting in order to develop ourselves. Perhaps it is more relevant than ever, with the pandemic still fresh in our memories. The themes of learning and play had already been central to the headquarters of childcare organisation Solidoe.

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For Solidoe, children are what matters most. They should be given the space to develop themselves and learn through play. With care and professionalism, Solidoe aims to provide a pedagogical environment where children can develop skills in a safe, stimulating and educational setting that will serve them well, both now and in the society of the future. This applies not only to the childcare centres themselves, but also to Solidoe’s headquarters. During the design process, I found myself wondering: isn’t learning essential for all of us? What if I could create a pedagogical space for everyone? That became my ambition for the new interior of Solidoe’s headquarters.

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Back to children: how do they actually discover the world around them? One of the first ways children learn is through shapes. A square box can become anything to a child, a house or a car, for example. A rectangle can become a bed, a catwalk or a bus. Undefined materials stimulate children’s imagination. From this principle came the idea of working with basic shapes: a square, circle and triangle. And how great would it be if these shapes could be incorporated into everyday office activities? For example, by using them as a metaphor, stool or play object for children accompanying their parents to a meeting. With this in mind, I designed a flexible wall.

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So, the concept is there. Now what? This idea had to be translated into the interior as a whole. By observing children, I learned that there are many different ways to communicate. This time, rather than using words, I used colours to create wayfinding for the reception and the multifunctional space. In the new headquarters, communication therefore takes place through shape and colour.

Personally, I am a strong advocate of personal development. For me, it is a daily practice: a moment for myself to pause, look back, and above all, look ahead. Moments to learn from, with all the falling and getting back up that comes with them. In fact, exactly as a child does ;)! Personal development not only makes you more critical of yourself, but also of your surroundings and society. Things that stand out to me, for example, are the hurried pace of life in the Netherlands, the constant pursuit of being better, always wanting to be happy, and wanting to get everything possible out of life. But do you know what really means living? … Falling and getting back up. Good days and bad days are part of that. Those who cannot accept this can experience a great deal of stress, become overworked, or even suffer a burnout. That is the world we live in today, and that is quite worrying.

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That is why I started a research project together with Willemieke van den Brink - Gouwentak & Tessa Verbei. The research focuses on the impact of stress, being overworked and experiencing burnout in everyday life: what it does to you and how you can deal with it. Or perhaps most importantly, how can we prevent it? 

Lotte de Jong