This volume explores design for children through a multidisciplinary approach. Focusing on preschool environments, it highlights how child-centred spatial and product design can support skills, competencies, and emotional development across different age ranges.
The educational environment is conceived as a laboratory for growth, preparing future citizens to face the challenges of tomorrow. Grounded in contemporary pedagogical approaches and enriched by contributions from experts, the analysis of case studies, usage scenarios, and design practices culminates in a set of open design principles for researchers, designers and architects, outlining a renewed vision of design for preschool environments.

Laura Giraldi
Architect and Professor of Design at the Department of Architecture of the University of Florence, where she also serves as Head of the Master’s Degree in Advanced Sustainable Design. She is the founder and Director of the Design for Kids and Youth Lab, the first Italian academic research laboratory dedicated to design for children and adolescents, where she coordinates multidisciplinary teams and international research projects focused on the innovation of spaces, products, and services for young users.
Her scholarly work focuses on child- and youth-oriented design as a strategic tool to address social, educational, and cultural challenges, fostering sustainable and inclusive experiences. Her research integrates design, communication, and emerging technologies to develop new models of interaction, learning, and user experience in physical and digital environments. She leads numerous national and international projects on product, service, and system innovation, collaborating with institutions, companies, and public-sector organizations on topics such as design for children, emergency management, and AI-based decision-making systems.
She is the author of scientific papers, book chapters, and peer-reviewed articles published in major national and international journals, and presented at leading conferences in the fields of design, technology, and innovation. Her work reflects a forward-looking vision, aiming to consolidate design as a catalyst for social, educational, and environmental change, with particular attention to the needs of young users.