Children’s House

Architecture & Interior Design: Randić and associates (2021)
Photography: Marko Mihaljević

Children’s House is a building designed for children within the Rikard Benčić cultural complex. It is located in the Brick Building, an industrial warehouse from the end of the 19th century – its reconstruction is part of the Benčić complex revitalization project. Rijeka is the first city in Croatia to build a huge house, beautifully embellished, cheerful and full of creativity, entirely intended for children. The architecture for children, in a more pronounced way than in other buildings, binds the perception of space with the memory of its use. The building in which children gain their first experiences, knowledge and find their own place in the community, is not a space of mechanical functionality, but a formative space that is an essential part of everyone's personal memory. The physical sense of material, colour, light, the relationship of building scale and peripersonal space are the important elements of this experience.

Puppet shows, children's films and books, exhibitions, creative workshops are just a part of the rich content which youngsters can enjoy here. The creative potential that vibrates behind the walls of this house, waiting for its little tenants, is one of the most beautiful stories told by the European Capital of Culture in Rijeka - because it is dedicated to the most wonderful and dearest: children of this city and its surroundings.