CRAE INTRESS

Known as Residential Centers for Educational Action, the CRAEs are accommodations for minors who, for economic reasons or for the protection of the minor, do not live with their parents or relatives. Infants and young people of different ages with very different needs and realities can coexist in the same center. We propose to generate a debate on the interaction of residents with the space in which they live, taking into account their work and leisure dynamics.

“We need colors for life”

CRAE resident, 10 years old

In other actions, the Intress Association provides shelter to different Residential Centers for Educational Care (CRAE) for children and young people between 3 and 17 years of age who are especially vulnerable. Within these centers, healthy bonds are promoted for residents who, in many cases, have been victims of mistreatment in their family context.

Given the confidentiality for the protection of minors, the interior design students of the ESDAP Catalunya school on Campus Deià and the young residents will develop this project in a participatory and telematic way, guided by the educators of the center and the tutorship of Amaya Martínez, professor of the interior design degree at ESDAP Campus Deià, architect and founder of Laces of Architecture.

The relationship between infants in vulnerable situations and interior students has to strengthen and tighten ties from the beginning, thus, they will be able to share thoughts and design proposals that make the center a home for residents. That is why the first situations focus on the game, on getting to know each other and discovering the shortcomings that infants detect in space.

Reached a point of trust and comfort, the students begin to propose redesigns on the common rooms. The decision involves remodeling the distribution of the elements, changing colors and adding useful elements that make the space more habitable and interactive. After a sample of proposals, the infants decide on the proposal with the most power of adaptability and satisfaction of needs. During the last two sessions the students apply the designs in two spaces. This intervention involves making it a reality, for the first time during the academic years, that a design is applied in a real way. With the addition that they have contact with materials and the assembly actively. The result is a surprise for CRAE users, who are excited to see the end and are grateful for the change and the listening by all the participants.