Future → Built Creatively
“Color Cure” is a project by Praveen Siddappa Marathe, an interior design student at JD Institute, Bengaluru. Inspired by the traditional lacquered wooden toys of Varanasi, the project explores the theme of healing through colour, culture, and child-centric spatial design. It aims to transform the conventional paediatric hospital environment into a welcoming and emotionally supportive space that reduces fear and anxiety among children, while responding to the emotional and functional needs of young patients, carers, and healthcare professionals.
The project is designed for children, parents, and medical staff, keeping comfort, emotional well-being, safety, and engagement at the core of the design process. The design approach focuses on healing environments, functionality, intuitive circulation, sensory engagement, and playful interaction, ensuring that the outcome is both practical and meaningful. Through research into pediatric psychology, healthcare environments, and the cultural significance of Varanasi lacquer toys, the project identifies the need for hospitals that move beyond sterile clinical spaces to create emotionally comforting and interactive experiences for children.
Materials such as low-VOC paints, anti-bacterial surfaces, rounded furniture, polished textures, and durable healthcare finishes, along with techniques including colour-coded zoning, curved spatial planning, interactive installations, and toy-inspired wayfinding systems, were chosen to achieve safety, positivity, and visual comfort. Visually, the project is defined by vibrant lacquer-inspired colours such as reds, yellows, greens, and blues, along with smooth curves, playful geometric forms, and glossy finishes, reflecting joy, innocence, and emotional healing.The final outcome, a pediatric hospital inspired by Varanasi lacquer toy craftsmanship, embodies comfort, engagement, and culturally rooted healing while seeking to create a stress-free healthcare experience for children. Through this project, the designer aims to highlight the importance of integrating traditional craft inspiration into modern healthcare interiors, positioning design as a tool for empathy, emotional healing, and user-centered problem-solving.Ultimately, “Color Cure” stands as a reflection of how cultural craftsmanship and thoughtful design can transform healthcare environments into spaces of comfort, positivity, and recovery, where healing is supported not only through medicine but also through experience and emotion.