A Literature Review on the Characteristics of Interior Spaces for Early Childhood Education Settings: Focusing on Domestic Academic Journals Published since 2010 in the Fields of Architecture and Early Childhood Education

This study aimed to examine desirable spatial characteristics that early childhood education(ECE) settings are expected to have. For the purpose, a literature review was conducted focusing on domestic academic journals published since 2010 in the fields of architecture and early childhood education respectively. A total of 28 articles, which satisfied the selection criteria, were reviewed, and in the process, desirable spatial characteristics were extracted and categorized, which finally converged into 11 domains: Suitability, Amenity, Safety, Flexibility, Individuality Supportability, Self-esteem Supportability, Aesthetic, Dynamicity, Comfortibility, Connectivity, and Mobility Supportability. Among these characteristics, spaces that support self-esteem, promote interactions among users and between indoor and outdoor environments, and are multi-functional were the most emphasized across the two disciplines in common. The two disciplines differed in terms of relative emphasis on some of the characteristics, particularly on Comfortability, Mobility Supportability, and Dynamicity. This study contributes to the literature in that it identified the essential desirable characteristics of ECE interior spaces in both of the architectural and educational perspectives and provides the basis for future interdisciplinary studies on ECE interior settings to better support young children‘s development.