calls for articles on site review 44 architecture and play
philosophy as play community building as play events as play education as play
play as an invitation to engagement play as a invitation to participate play as design process play as critiique of seriousness play as political resistance play as rebellion against the paradigm of function play as communication play as negotiation play as body in space
theatre as play humour as play lifestyle as play entertainment as play distraction as play
There are several ways to think about play, the most obvious one being the one which children, with great imagination and entertainment, do, learning as they go. Then there is organised play, sports and such, games involving opposing players of great prowess, skill and combativeness. And somewhere in-between is play that involves messing around for the sake of meaningless joy: play for the sake of play. There is another use of the word play, which is the looseness in a system. Mechanical parts that have some play are not highly machined, or if they once were are now worn, introducing a play between parts. This is very interesting, that play describes this sloppiness, where exactitude is not a factor. The architecture of play is linked indubitably to Aldo van Eyck’s schools and playgrounds, and from there all the theories of education, learning and play that so dominated the twentieth century. Increasingly, either through psychology, ideology or health and safety regulations, play has become channelled, scheduled – something closer to a machined part in a busy life than poking about a ditch with a stick. for hours. till dinner time. Somewhere in all of this is the sense that joy is for children, that eventually one puts aside childish things and gets on with some other form of life, usually something more grim, less joyous. Something we see in the tragic children of war who have been forced to put aside childish things almost from birth. In the practice of architecture do we have works conceived, designed and built with joy throughout the whole process? Where the sense of play is there from the start, an architecture of simple pleasures, of ridiculous time-wasting that is vastly pleasurable? This transcends program and looks squarely at the process of making architecture.
What is the relationship between architecture and play?
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on site review 43: architecture and t ime
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