Artman Kids Store

Artman Kids Store in Zanjan, won Second Place in the Renovation category at the 16th Memar Award (2016). The project is the renovation of a shop in a commercial complex to serve as a children's shoe store for an established brand. The store was designed with the idea of creating space as play.

After analyzing the client's needs and examining various strategies for children's behavior in space, the idea of creating a game-like mechanism was approved. To avoid interfering with the shopping process, the mechanism had to be as simple as possible while acting quickly. One of the simplest and most effective stimuli for attracting a child's attention is creating sound — discovering the cause-and-effect process of sound production is part of their understanding of the world around them. This led to the central idea: producing a pleasant sound through a mechanical process triggered by natural movements during shopping.

Bamboo, an organic material, creates a delightful sound and a warm, intimate environment for children. Linear bamboo elements of varying lengths create a wavy form at the project's center that, contrasting with the simple white walls, gives the interior distinctive visual appeal. Drawing each shoe from its hanger causes a different point on the bamboo surface to oscillate, creating a soft wave. The mechanical force of the hanging shoes, guided by pulleys to the center, naturally created a triangular form beneath the ceiling resembling children's drawings of houses — simultaneously serving as the project's structural form, display modulation, and swing support for shoe fitting.