Beinfield Architecture PC

New Canaan, Connecticut

A playhouse should summon the child in all of us while providing shelter for nurturing young imaginations.

A strong underlying pattern of architectural elements animates the playhouse. This is further accentuated by alternating colors on the building's 48 sides, which express a childlike playfulness and whimsy.

The circular Playhouse, designed as a donation to the New Canaan Country School, is inspired by the philosophy of our Native American predecessors and their harmonious relationship with the earth and the natural environment. The plan is derived from the Indian medicine wheel, a mythological symbol of the universe, with openings towards each of the eight compass points, each offering a different perspective on the world beyond.

In many ways the Medicine Wheel can best be understood as a mirror in which everything is reflected. The universe is the mirror of the people and each person is a mirror to every other person. All things are contained here, and all are equal. All things within this universe wheel know of their harmony with one another, except man.

There are four great powers on the medicine wheel. To the North is found wisdom. The South is the place of innocence and trust, and for perceiving the nature of Heart. To the West is found the introspective nature of man, and to the East is the place of illumination. At birth, everyone is given a particular beginning place within these four great directions on the medicine wheel. This starting place gives each of us our first way of perceiving things, which will then be out easiest and most natural way throughout our lives, but any person who perceives from only one of these four great directions will remain only a partial man. For example, a man who possesses only the gift of the north will be wise, but he will be a cold man, a man without feeling. After each of us has learned our beginning gift, our first place on the Medicine Wheel, we then must grow by seeking understanding in each of the four great ways. Only by forsaking the familiar for the unknown, and expanding our reference frames, can we become full people, capable of balance and decision in what we do. It is only through exploration of the great ways within ourselves that we can come into harmony with the rest of the universe.

The Indians believed that there was only one thing that all people possess equally, loneliness. This is the cause of growing, but it is also the cause of wars. Love, hate, greed, and generosity are all rooted in loneliness, within the desire to be needed and loved. Therefore, it is loneliness that connects us all and is in the center of the Medicine Wheel.

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