Desert Child: Unearthing Landscape Narratives to Cultivate Creativity and Connections to Nature

Abstract

Stories for children are grounded in landscapes. How do stories children listen to and read come alive in the landscape? How can the human connection to story become a tool to improve the child-nature connection? Children are increasingly growing up in urban environments and their access to ‘wild nature’ is limited, hindering a healthy connection to the native environment. Stories represented through children’s literature are archetypal landscapes intended to create a sense of place. Within these stories, children internalize and bring to life the locations, shaping their views towards places set in their own lives . These imaginative landscapes become a creative tool to develop our hopes and desires for the spaces we spend our time in. This project aims to understand the connections between stories and land to increase children’s creativity and relationship with nature. Storytelling and creation become the vehicle for engaging deeply in the wonder and awe of local ecosystems. To employ these methods, a design framework is developed then applied to a proposed landscape interventions in Las Vegas, Nevada. In this future vision, an integrated model of child-centered design and place-based storytelling combine to create an immersive environment in the Mojave Desert.