Playography: Explorations of a playful line

Research question:

How might an ethos of play enable an intensive and affective science-discovery experience for children within an architectural play-scape?

Abstract:

This proposal offers an urban spatial environment that nurtures play as a learning device. Playful lines along the edge of Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter suggest flow and movement that peel and rupture into moments of intensity.

Intuitively, we play. Play is more than a frivolous activity, it is how we discover and engage with our environment.

This practice-based research project begins by investigating play theory through the writing of cultural theorists, Johan Huizinga and Brian Sutton-Smith, who discuss the ambiguous nature of play and its relation to space. Conventions of standardised playgrounds are also challenged by ‘playspace’ designers like Isamu Noguchi through irregular play equipment and terrain modulations. Thus the designed physical space cannot induce play but is considered a platform that encourages curiosity and imagination for play.

These notions are explored through iterative modelling and drawing methods from which emerges a linear motif. It becomes a planning device, where its extensions and intersections suggest placement and wayfaring.

Research project submitted as part of a Bachelor of Art and Design (Honours) in spatial design at AUT University, Auckland, New Zealand

PROMENADE

A public promenade approaching the finale event, opening up a once isolated space. It acts like a forecourt, a moment of anticipation before the destination. Furniture and play objects peel off and shift across the land. Perspectives are considered from both a child’s and adult’s field of vision.

VILLAGE

The first rupture draws together social interactions. Local residents and visitors mingle in a marketplace. Specialty eateries capture STEAM principles through food technologies and the dining experience.

SUBTERRANEAN GROTTO

Dip down underground to a secluded world, a secret observatory that exposes a marine ecosystem of arthropods. As the platform rises and falls with the rhythmic tide, it draws attention to the edge condition between land and sea.

SPLASH ZONE

Leaping and streaming from the ground are ribbons of water. The ground surface has inscribed water interference patterns, which double as drainage. Laminar flow jets create the illusion of ‘jumping water’.

FACTORY LAB

Science is ‘invented and produced’ here. Rotating exhibits allow a constant change of activity throughout the years. Productive space explores STEAM themes through larger interactive haptic structures and installations. A translucent streaky canopy suggests movement while providing shelter.