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Figure 1 Lego play as free and meaningful activity
DEFINING PLAY AND PLAYING GAMES Theories of play and games overlap into many disciplines – from a history embedded in behavioural psychology, sociology and cultural anthropology, through to recent developments in computer game design, “gamification” and serious play. Many contemporary researchers looking to define these terms, refer back to the Homo Ludens (1938) by Dutch historian Johan Huizinga, and Man, Play and Games, by Roger Caillois (1958), and these remain a common reference in books and articles on game design. In Homo Ludens, Huizinga defined play as “a free and meaningful activity, carried out for its own sake, spatially and temporally segregated from the requirements of practical life, and bound by a self-contained set of rules that hold absolutely.” Caillois tested and expanded on cultural aspects related to play, and linked these to the intrinsic qualities of games. Of particular relevance to architecture, Caillois categorized play into two main groups: paida, spontaneous play, and ludus, structured play. These were further subdivided into types of games and activities: “agon”, activity utilizing skill, “alea”, games of luck, “mimicry”, activities of impersonation and simulation, and “ilinx”, play in pursuit of vertigo and sensation. In his discussion on games of skill, Caillois emphasized the importance of risk for the player, and the threat of defeat, without which the game would no longer be pleasing. This included games which consist of the need to find or continue at once a response, which is free within the limits set by the rules. Caillois related these types of games to verbal expressions such as the playing of a performer, or the play of a gear. He states “In fact, the game is no longer pleasing to one who, because he is too well trained or skilful, wins effortlessly and infallibly” (1958). Caillois’ definition of play can be expanded to include aesthetic and experiential qualities of architecture – from delight in concepts, through to play of light, play of shadow, play of architecture. In their studies on serious gaming, Rodriguez (2006) and Andreotti (2002) analyse the work of surrealist, situationist and avant-garde artists and writers in relation to Huizinga’s concepts of play. The fundamental values of exploratory learning are curiosity and risk taking, through experimentation. The importance was in the act of design by the student or participant, and not in the transmission of skills – in opposition to modern art schools of their time. Play was in the process, and in the experience of the audience, as evidenced in the work of artists such as Asger Jorn and Guy Debord’s Mémoires, dérives and psychogeographies of Paris. Rodriguez suggests that “Playing can be part of the learning process because the subject to be learnt is, at least in some respects, essentially playful. The use of serious games in the learning process therefore illuminates the fundamental nature of the subject being taught.” While it is perhaps easy to see closer historical relationships between play, games and art, the relevance to architecture and urban design is increasing with advancing technology.