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ETD Abstract Container

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Talking to Strangers: The Potentials of Playful Interaction in Public Space

Apple, Brian
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1460652573

Abstract Details

2016, MARCH, University of Cincinnati, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture.
People often inhabit cities in a routine manner, disengaged with their surroundings while they transition from point A to point B, leaving many spaces place-less. The design of cities, favoring production and consumption to aid in the completion of practical tasks, creates an overly prescriptive environment which neglects the social benefits of designing for playful interactions. This thesis is an exploration of the potential play holds for public space, particularly related to the creation and value of playful social and physical interactions. It seeks to understand: What is play? What is play’s role in the city, in terms of physical form, architecture, and the resultant social and physical interactions and meanings? And how can architecture encourage or even catalyze play? The city is a playground. The density and diversity of pedestrians and activities in public space ensure the occurrence of playful interactions, both direct and observational. However, architecture rarely engages these instances, instead reinforcing the prescriptive nature of public space. By creating an architectural response encouraging these playful interactions, they can be greater in number and social value. Choice, risk, ambiguity, and exploration will act as design principles. These design principles are derived from a detailed definition of play and will help to develop built form encouraging playful interactions between people and their environment. This built form will address five spatial contexts, being path, intersection, boundary, threshold, and prop. These spatial contexts categorize public space in a manner that will allow a more concise exploration of the relationship between playful interaction and public space. By utilizing architecture to encourage playful interaction in public space, the city will gain valuable social interaction. On a personal scale, the creation of these playful interactions will afford people the ability to be more engaged with their surroundings, more in touch with their creativity and curiosity, and act as a counter balance to the endless cycle of routine. On a larger scale, the integration of architecture affording play into public space will broaden the social oeuvre as it will lead to spontaneous and creative behavior which tests existing social structures.
Vincent Sansalone, M.Arch. (Committee Chair)
Udo Greinacher, M.Arch. (Committee Member)
20 p.
Architecture
Play; Playful Interaction; Prescriptive; Routine

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Apple, B. (2016). Talking to Strangers: The Potentials of Playful Interaction in Public Space [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1460652573

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Apple, Brian. Talking to Strangers: The Potentials of Playful Interaction in Public Space. 2016. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1460652573.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Apple, Brian. "Talking to Strangers: The Potentials of Playful Interaction in Public Space." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1460652573

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1460652573
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© 2016, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Talking to Strangers: The Potentials of Playful Interaction in Public Space by Brian Apple is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.