אתגר התחרות
The Design Challenge تحدي المسابقة

Between the Drops offers an unparalleled opportunity to reconsider the design of Well Baby Clinics (Tipat Halav) and their environment across Israel, as part of a far-reaching childcare redevelopment program initiated by the Ministry of Health. We invite you, young architects and designers, to participate in a design competition to re-envision the future Well Baby Clinics in Israel.

The goal of the competition is to encourage innovative and creative thinking among the community of early-career designers and architects and initiate cross-disciplinary and cutting-edge design proposals for re-envisioning Well Baby Clinics compatible with the perspective and needs of infants and children (from birth to age six) and their caregivers. Well Baby Clinic is the first encounter young families have with health and medical services, from pregnancy and preparation for childbirth to parenting and the child’s first years. The Ministry of Health is the primary organization responsible for these services, managing 428 centers operating all over Israel. The guiding principles of the design challenge are based on the Early Childhood Strategy endorsed by the Ministry of Health, which puts an emphasis on the development of Well Baby Clinics in Israel and their direct environments. The competition pairs this strategy with the URBAN95 initiative, led by the Bernard van Leer Foundation , which aspires to provide policy-makers, planners, architects, designers and others to improve the way in which families, toddlers, children and their caregivers live, play, communicate and move about in cities. Between the Drops seeks to re-envision Well Baby Clinics as spaces of multi-layered platforms for support and development, encouraging cross-age encounters and interaction in a way that is accessible, convenient and safe. The design should strive to empower and embrace children and their caregivers, while assuring the wellbeing of the entire family, and at the same time challenge and stimulate child development.

The competition is based on the question: How can Well Baby Clinics be re-designed – employing planning and design tools ranging from the urban context to the building, its interior and details – to serve as an active environment for toddlers, enrich their interaction with their caregivers, encourage their health and development, and strengthen the clinic as a welcoming focal point to its urban and local surroundings.