THE TRANSFORMATIVE ROLE OF PLAY IN/FOR PUBLIC SPACES

Date

2023-9-11

Author

Sever, Müge

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This thesis aims to delve into the multifaceted nature of play within urban public spaces and, in doing so, unlock its potential for emancipation and transformation as a driving force in the design of dynamic and interactive public environments. This study centers on Johan Huizinga's pivotal work on play, highlighting its fundamental role in everyday life and social culture. It identifies key concepts like responsiveness, enjoyment, non-seriousness, Homo Ludens, freedom, spontaneity, the magic circle, and ritual as core elements of play. The research explores how play interacts within public spaces, influencing everyday life and potentially driving emancipation and transformation. This leads to the development of the “Playful Flow” framework, which intertwines play theory and public space theory. The “Playful Flow” framework incorporates key parameters derived from the intricate interplay between concepts from play theory and those within public space theory. The thesis involves a thorough examination of observed examples and examples from literature and published ones. It evaluates these cases based on the parameters including interaction, visibility/stage presence, accessibility, playfulness, emancipation, transformation, and social orientation. The alignment of these parameters with relevant literature is systematically documented. The analysis of these parameters serves as the central means for assessing their pivotal role in evaluating the impact of cultivating a playful flow within public spaces.

Subject Keywords

Play Concept, Public Space, Everyday Life, Homo Ludens, Flow

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/105548

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis