09/01/2026
The Aaron Milken Center in Los Angeles reimagines early childhood education as a place where learning, creativity, and connection to nature are woven into everyday experiences. This approach comes to life through a series of design strategies:
๐๐ฅ๐๐ฏ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ซ๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ : The Center integrates learning into the architecture through flexible spaces and built-in teaching elements that encourage hands-on exploration. Each classroom opens onto an outdoor environment featuring native landscaping, play spaces, and a garden where students can plant and grow food. Every design element supports the developmental needs of young learners of all abilities.
๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐จ๐ซ: Color becomes both a design feature and a wayfinding tool. Custom-colored glazed bricks help students navigate the campus, while neutral-toned bricks are interwoven with the colored ones and set vertically to evoke tree trunks.
๐๐ง๐ฏ๐ข๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฉ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐ฏ๐: Rather than relying on traditional hallways, the Center organizes classrooms and shared spaces around a central, shaded plaza, with open doors and breezeways creating a connected indoor-outdoor learning environment. Its Bel Air hilltop location offers panoramic canyon vistas and access to cooling airflow and direct sunlight.
โThe most important part of the Aaron Milken Center isn't what was built, but it's what will happen inside it,โ says Sarah Kaber, Senior Director of the Aaron Milken Center. โEvery classroom, garden, and gathering space was designed to nurture relationships, inspire curiosity, and remind every child and family that they belong.โ
Learn more: https://perkinswill.com/project/aaron-milken-center/
Stephen Wise Temple |
