The Abasto Children’s Museum transforms part of the historic Abasto complex into a child-sized city organised around role play. Streets, shops, services, media, transport and workplaces are adapted to smaller bodies so that urban life can be explored through direct action. The museum does not present a conventional collection: it constructs a complete setting in which every environment represents a social function and connects with the others.
Scale is one of the fundamental resources. Counters, vehicles, signs, tools and doors are designed for children to use directly. This adaptation creates a sense of autonomy within a world normally designed for adults and turns architecture into an active part of play.
Interior streets connect the different sectors. Paving, corners, signs and façades create the impression of one continuous small city. Circulation is not only a passage between rooms, but a narrative structure that allows movement from one occupation to another and shows how every activity occupies a place within the urban whole.
Commerce appears through supermarkets, shops, tills, products and storage areas. These settings show how buying, selling and restocking are organised and how several tasks sustain an everyday transaction. Objects can change function according to the game and make complete work sequences reconstructable.
The financial system is represented through counters, forms, symbolic money and simple operations. The bank stops being an abstract institution and becomes a visible place where actions, turns and decisions are organised. The setting connects language, numbers and social representation.
Health areas include examination tables, uniforms, equipment and spaces of care. The environment supports the performance of consultations, emergencies and treatment and makes coordination among different roles visible. Play turns medical objects into narrative tools and connects the body, communication and responsibility.
Emergency services introduce vehicles, signals, clothing and simulated procedures. Firefighters, police and other urban roles appear as parts of a system organised around response, cooperation and collective care. The staging shows that these tasks depend on coordination and communication.
Media spaces contain studios, cameras, microphones, lights and control areas. Television or radio production is broken into visible actions: presenting, recording, lighting, directing and listening. The result connects creative expression with technical work and reveals that a broadcast depends on many people and pieces of equipment.
Transport and infrastructure link the separate scenes. Vehicles, traffic lights, signs and routes turn mobility into part of urban play. The relationship among streets, visual rules and movement shows how a city organises the circulation of people and objects.
Production areas and workshops introduce materials, tools and processes. Assembly, repair, sorting and transformation reveal how objects pass through different stages before reaching a shop or service. Manual work appears connected with planning, precision and cooperation.
Symbolic play is constructed through costume, accessories and everyday objects. Uniforms and tools do not impose one story, but activate different situations according to the participants. Roles can be exchanged and scenes change as new decisions emerge.
Collaboration forms part of almost every environment. Many actions require tasks to be distributed, turns to be taken, others to be listened to and responses to be coordinated. The miniature city therefore functions as a social network in which every activity depends on temporary agreements and on the relationship among different roles.
Colour and signage distinguish each sector. Façades, lettering, icons and surfaces create clear visual identities, while streets and repeated elements maintain overall continuity. This coherence makes the complex feel like one city rather than a sum of independent sets.
The building also uses thresholds and changes of scale to distinguish different urban functions. Moving from a street into a studio, shop or care setting alters sound, furniture and visual cues, helping each role-play environment feel specific while remaining part of the same miniature city.
The Abasto context adds a historical layer. The museum stands within a complex long associated with markets, transport, commerce and popular culture. The fictional city therefore occupies a real place marked by the circulation of goods, workers and migrant communities.
The Abasto Children’s Museum is defined by the relationship among play, scale and social structure. Shops, hospitals, studios, vehicles, workshops and streets form an interconnected system in which the city can be understood through physical participation. Its distinctive quality lies in turning complex urban functions into manipulable environments and in making visible that everyday life depends on a network of work, objects and relationships.