'Playbanism' - USYD Master's Thesis Portfolio

PLAYBANISM

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank my family for their amazing support and for being so nurturing and generous my whole life. I would like to thank my friends for putting up with my ramblings about playgrounds and child hood memories over the past few months. I would also like to thank my tutor Andrew Daly for being instructive and insightful.

PLAYBANISM

Student Harrison Colin Dumesich

Student ID 470255351

Date Submitted November 2022

Supervisor Andrew Daly Coordinator Chris Smith

This thesis has been submitted for the MARC6000 Masters Thesis Studio to the University of Sydney, Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning on November 2022

TABLE

“Like lost children we live our unfinished adventures.” - Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle

INTRODUCTION

ABSTRACT

Play is an essential characteristic of human beings, and as long as there have been civiliza tions, cities have been organised to supply venues for play. Whether it be coliseums, amphithe atres, or simple clearings for a sports field, cities have always incorporated play. This is because play is older than culture.(Huzinga, 1952.) Definitions of play depend on the fields doing the defining. Some define it as an ‘imitative instinct, others a need for relaxation, a release of surplus energy, or the preparation of the youth of a species for serious future tasks. All of these defini tions assume that play doesn’t just exist for its own sake. What is clear is the outcome of play, that it allows for demonstrations of civility, gentleness, and caring through ‘having fun’. Play has been observed across species, in some cases at times where competitive behaviour is expected. The harsh reality of predator and prey in nature is the opposition to play.

In the modern human context, predator and prey have been replaced with economies, where your survival depends on your economic output. In a modern human context, play is opposed by a sense of serious activity. Since the Nineteenth century, children have been taught about the time-money matrix. (Borden, 2007.) Technology has enabled us to get around the city without physically integrating it. Moving through the city in a highly scheduled and GPS-ne gotiated manner disallows play. Non-stop commercial signaling is pumped into the city-dweller through their smartphone, billboard, and computer advertisements. Open parks, nature walks, sitting areas, and playgrounds offer an escape from the commercial landscape. In 1960’s Paris, the Situationist International (led by Guy Debord) formed definitions of Urbanism that linked ‘up ward’ to critiques of society and ‘downward’ to an analysis of the everyday behaviour of people. They devised methods of counteracting the commercially induced behaviour of city-dwelling. This thesis hopes to apply their observations and observations, such as: “varied ambiences”,‘“possible rendezvous” and “psychogeography” to reverse-engineer an architecture of play.

This thesis aims to define ‘play’ and argue for its function as a generator of civic-ness and joy. As cities grow, they should provide spaces for not just economic production, but for the arts and play. This study will seek to illustrate the history and importance of ‘the play element’ (Huzinga, 1938) of culture and to uncover the mindsets and techniques for re-igniting urban environments with play.

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

My earliest memories are of toys, sand, mud and the smell of grass and the ocean breeze. When I was four years old I would wear a spiderman costume at all times and climb around the house and swing around imagining I was using web-slingers. My sister, cousinsand I would go to the beach and draw a house floor plan in the sand and play family. My sister and I would keep each other amused for hours with legos, dolls, costumes and stuffed animals. As I grew up I moved around the world, to suburban America, rural Canada and the bustling metropolis of Tokyo. The different styles of urbanism changed the way I could play, concrete jungles became places for solo-exploration and wide open fields were the playgrounds for social play.

In my childhood play was a tool of escape and connection.It was the means and the ends of friendship. Through play I learned sportsmanship, discipline, teamwork and creativity. Al though as an adult, I tend to be more serious, the underlying child-like play is what allows for the capacity to work and to engage in serious matters with a sense of joy.

Figure 1: Oliver and I at Coogee Beach playground

THESIS QUESTION

How can play be used on an existing suburban site to counteract the effects of commercialism and promote civic-ness?

Thesis Objectives

1. To explore the methods of spatial design that intrinsically motivates play across all ages and cultures.

2.To promote civic-ness using a site in an urban setting, combatting the commercial imperatives of the city.

3. To enhance the ability of spontaneous interaction and activity in urban settings.

Figure 2: Metaphorical Montage - Play inserted into the ‘serious’ city

PROBLEM STATEMENT

According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the percent age of people living in cities will increase from 55% to 68% by 2050.(UN 2018.) The population increase will occur mostly in Asian and African countries. In her book, Place, Pedagogy and Play, Matluba Khan outlines the ways urban settings are affecting children. Studies in ideal outdoor spaces for play have found that a variety of affordances offer the greatest variety of affordanc es for active play (Aziz & Said, 2012). An area that supplies a mix of effort and adventure from sedentary to vigorous, solo exploration to communal play. By supplying a range of play types and environments you can cater for a wide range of interests and abilities.

Children are given less freedom to explore on their own terms and there is more pressure at younger ages to achieve more in school. Cities have become more devoid of explorable char acter. Less green spaces and more restrictions have led children to play online and with computer games. A disconnect from physical play in adolescents has adverse effects, and modern amounts of screen-time and indoor time isolation is unprecedented. In recognition of this shift in demo graphic behaviour, in 1989 The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was formed. As part of they stated:

“ States Parties recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.” (UN 1989)

Other articles also contain statements that link to this, such as Article 15, which gives children the right to gather, assemble and organise their own activities. The issue with this type of document is the lack of pedagogy. Pedagogy is the ideas and theories behind teaching and mentoring. These official government articles lack playfulness in addressing playfulness. In Khan’s thinking, a child-like mindset is necessary. Khan states that the children should be teaching us (adults/architects/designers) how to design spaces, as their intuitive thinking is unencumbered by tradition or indoctrination.

“ At the meso and macro scale, play or educational space can be improved with the participation of children who are the beneficiaries of the design.” (Matluba Khan, 2021.)

Our cities are suffering from seriousness. Designers will have to unlearn function and re connect with their childhood memories in order to dispel the ill effects of post-industrial capital ism. This thesis draws from the observations of Guy Debord, in his text The Society of the Specta cle he describes the ways that urbanism has become a condition of continual images. Individuals present their person through collected images. The spectacle facilitates the continual consumer ism of city dwellers by the means of entertainment and advertisement. This results in a consumer culture where the individual purchases items to cultivate their ‘image and signal’ as part of the spectacle.

The spectacle is able to subject human beings to itself because the economy has already totally subjugated them. It is nothing other than the economy developing for itself. (Debord, 1967.)

In the manga series BLAME!, written and illustrated by Tsutomu Nihei, he depicts a city growing for it’s own sake. The city consumes material and through artificial intelligence, creates more of itself. The intentions of the city are simply of growth. In a capitalist system , a cities func tion is to accommodate as much growth as possible. In order to avoid a future where humans are seen as cogs to be entertained and instrumentalized, a new formulation of space and urban philosophy needs to be developed.

Figure 3: Panel from Chapter 14 of Vol.2 of BLAME! - Tsutomu Nihei

INSPIRATION

WHAT IS PLAY?

Evolution of play

In Peter Gray’s research on the evolutionary psychology of play, he has found that early (band style) Hunter-gathering tribes, (consisting of 25-50 members) would use play as a way of dissolving various political tensions in the group. Play was an adaptation for political stability, and as a recourse for forming friendships and preparing for hunts. Studies of these groups have con cluded that the process of education for youth was built entirely on play. If the adults fought the children would imitate and act out the disagreements. Play was a simulacrum of a ‘serious occur rence’.

“The point of hunter-gatherer play is not to establish winners and losers, but to have fun. In the process of having fun, the players develop skills requiring strength, coordi nation, endurance, cooperation, and wit, and they solidify their bonds of friendship.” (Gray 2012.)

Gray points out that this form of play is needed to sustain the level of equality that is necessary for this form of survival. In these bands of hunter-gatherers, there is complete equality, of food, resources, living arrangements and it is seen as one family. The researchers are able to understand a lot about these cultures based on archaeological findings. Based on the group size, technology and diet, this era of egalitarianism is able to be understood. The economy of these close-knit groups has informed large parts of our evolutionary psychology and our neurobiology. (Gray, 2012.)

There are still many groups around the world that live in ways very similar to our ancient ancestors. Untouched by our ‘developing economies’ anthropologists can study these tribes to learn about socio-cultural behaviour. Ju/’hoansi (also called the !Kung, of Africa’s Kalahari Desert), Hazda (of Tanzanian rainforest), Mbuti (of Congo’s Ituri Forest) are amongst the many tribes that have these characteristics. The socio-economic environments we are living in don’t allow for the dissolving of tension through play like the way these tribes use it. Media creates constant com petition and tension between classes. The cities we live in are divided into neighbourhoods, with geographical basis for wealth and class baked into their positioning. Play is natural, but the places we inhabit are increasingly artificial.

Defying Reason

There is another camp of scientists who study play that use modern research methods, such as lab studies using rats, Electroencephalograms (EEG’s) and participant studies. Studies have shown that play is an aspect of animal behaviour that is counter-intuitive and tends to defy traditional thinking. In their book Play : How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul, Stuart Brown and Christopher Vaughan show the essential and counter-intu itive nature of play. A prime example of play defying logic, is a field researcher’s capture of a polar bear and group of huskies performing a play ritual. Through body language and other non-ver bal cues, these animals perform a dance of play. Through their studies of animals and humans, Brown and Vaughan were able to create a breakdown of the 7 characteristics of play.

WHAT IS PLAY?

Dr. Stuart Brown 7 characteristics of play

1.Apparently purposeless - Counter to the evolutionary description, Brown finds that play ne gates the ideas of purpose and function. That it is done for its own sake.

2.Voluntary - Play isn’t something that can be mandated or enforced, it comes naturally.

3. Inherent attraction - Play is innately pleasant as it is a suspension of fight or flight responses. During play, study participants show higher levels of serotonin and endorphin uptake.

4.Freedom from time - As play releases endorphins into the participants bodies, as they become engaged in an activity, it alters the sense of time and place. During participation in play, study subjects commonly report having perceived less time passing than those in a room without any stimulation, although they spent the same amount of time.

5. Diminished consciousness of self - Play allows for the dissolution of concepts of self, and oth ers. This allows for players to participate non-competitively and creatively. In Buddhist tradition, the self is the centre of desire. Desire is the stem for jealousy, envy and lust. During play the self is able to participate in what the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls flow. In flow the individ ual ‘self’ evaporates and is instead engaged with the ‘task’.

6. Improvisational potential - Play can represent all kinds of politics, whether it be anarchic, com munist or capitalist, play allows for the unlocking of ‘normal’ and ‘rigid’ ways of doing things. As children play, they invent power structures and create impromptu politics and behavioural norms.

7.Continuation desire - Play is a drug that truly has no adverse side effects. Humans seek play as an escape and means of communication wherever possible.

These seven characteristics are then born into Brown’s description of primary play types, being:

Body and Movement Play Object Play Social Play

Imaginative Play

These play types are not exhaustive and have many offshoots and alternate colorings. Brown quotes Johan Huzinga and appreciated his description of play:

“a free activity standing quite consciously outside ‘ordinary’ life as being ‘not serious’ but at the same time absorbing the player intensely and utterly. It is an activity connect ed with no material interest, and no profit can be gained from it.” (Huzinga, 1938.)

WHAT IS PLAY?

Since play’s link with the human psychology and physiology pre-dates our language surrounding concepts of human behaviour, historians have the task of understanding the play-element of the development of civilization and culture generally. Johan Huzinga, in his book Homo Ludens, he suggests that play is primary to and a necessary (though not sufficient) condition of the genera tion of culture. Huzinga considers people to be Homo Ludens instead of Homo Sapiens. Homo Sa piens being the ‘thinking ape; and Homo Ludens being the playing ape or an ape of the arts. The Latin word ludens roughly translates to sport, play, school, and practice. Sapiens meaning wise. Huzinga argues that play is a trait that defines humanity, and is a precursor to ‘serious’ elements of culture, such as science, finance and commerce. The act of play defies definition as the truth of play resides in the drive of ‘the player’. The subjective aspect of play is the primary characteristic, as it is what forms the basis for repetition and the generation of culture. As Homo Ludens, Huzin ga argues that we are primarily interested in play, and secondarily interested in definitions. In his search for definitions of play across languages and history, Huzinga has found that certain words have meanings that are singular and irreducible in their meanings. The irreducibility coincides with an inherent nature, and the word fun is a self-contained word without derivation or substi tute. Huzinga argues that the unitary element of play and fun is demonstrated in the inability for description or classification. The meanings of ‘fun’ and ‘play’ are simply self-evident to the indi vidual. Huzinga’s broad study of language helps to cement his hypothesis of Homo Ludens, as he finds that pre-industrial societies all had their cultural basis in the arts.

“No other modern language known to me has the exact equivalent of the English “fun”. The Dutch “aardigkeit” perhaps comes nearest to it (derived from “aard” which means the same as “Art” and “Wesen” in German, and thus evidence, perhaps, that the matter cannot be reduced further).” (Huzinga, 1938.)

Chapter Three of Homo Ludens, titled Play and Contest as Civilizing Functions, Huzinga demon strates that play and culture are a part of a ‘twin union’ and makes an important distinction of the play element of culture as opposed to the play element in culture. Contest is a form of interactive play in which there is a ‘winner’. Winners and losers represent a simulated outcome in the ‘game’ often representing fitness payoff recognition and reward. As civilizations grow and develop, the framework for contests using games translated into economies with real-life ‘winners’ and ‘los ers’.

The hazy border-line between play and seriousness is illustrated very tellingly by the use of the words “playing” or “gambling” for the machinations on the Stock Exchange. The gambler at the roulette table will readily concede that he is playing; the stockjobber will not. (Huzinga, 1952.)

Huzinga argues that play and seriousness are jostling counterparts in the formation of city-states. Whether they are seen as the catalyst for market activity, cross-roads of trade and transport of goods or military strongholds, these states always have play built into them. As people con gregate in population centres, their means of play became the coliseums, theatres, fields and playgrounds. As city-states form, play occurs between nations and within them. The thriving and

rotting societies would swing on the ability to create cultures of games that people both want to play and the play resulting in a healthier state. The cities with succesful cultures and games would naturally form the structures and spatial arrangements that the successful play can take place.

The City and Play

City-states and large empires have formed in recent human history due to the mass-cultivation and domestication of crops and animals. There was serendipitous development across Europe, Asia and Africa, where invention, navigation and technology led to the creation of economic cen tres which became cities. Often along natural intersections of water-ways, valleys or at the edges of oceans. There are varying schools of thought regarding the formation of cities and urbanism. In his book, Ludic City, Quentin Stevens describes the Structuralist Marxist and the Chicago schools of thought. They explain the forces that form a city being the confluence of groups that aim to ‘optimise production and maximise consumption through economies of scale and by creating spaces to allow for the maximal convergence of opportunities. Density and encounters in public was an essential ingredient to this form of commerce. Stevens draws from the writings of Henri Lefebvre, the french marxist philosopher and writer. In his book ‘Spatial Politics, Everyday Life and Rights to the City’ Lefebvre argued that in historical cities, the means of production were not the only element in play. He argued that these (historical) cities, “can be understood as a compre hensive, distinctive cultural artefact and a complex totality of cultural practices both old and new.” (Lefebvre 1996).

Lefebvre uses the term oeuvre to mean the complete use of the city for the fulfilment of practical and playful purposes. Historical cities, by necessity of the social oeuvre of the inhabitants. These cities of history thus would be built with ‘play’ and ‘practicality’ woven together.

As industrialization and automation develop alongside growing global capitalism, the Situationist International argues that mass production, mass-media and mass-consumption creates cities with less ability to satisfy the social oeuvre. With smart-phones and automated transportation replac ing high-density pedestrianism and face to face interaction, the cities of the world are becoming masked in screens and separated from geography. The term ‘Psychogeography’ was coined by

Figure 4: Husky and Polar Bear in a ‘dance of play’ - Norbert Rosing

Debord as a discipline that calls for a ‘reintegration’ with the ‘ambiences of the urban setting. The Situationist International stated that the potential for the city as a medium to combat capitalism lies in their link to history, geology, culture, and conventions. Psychogeographers would create maps of cities and negotiate based on playful reactions to place and time, as opposed to com mercial imperatives.

The segmentation of social life by capitalism highlights the threat which play poses, as evidence of a non-instrumental, non-commodifiable basis for urban social relations. It also reveals the special potential of play to respond dialectically to instrumentality. (Stevens, 2007, p. 12.)

Within the city, spaces for play have their own logic and history. Rodrigo Perez de Acre describes the logic and history of play in cities, and their ubiquity across cultures. Perez divided the play in cities based on formal and relational traits. Structured play relies on for mal and scalable spatial relationships. This ensures the rules of play are pertinent and structure is self-evident. With structured play built into the cities, ‘ludic imprints’ are created, they are the boundaries, edges or markings used to define the ‘ludic’ topologies. Areas such as mazes, race courses, basketball courts, and stadiums are constructed with the same methods as the crosswalks, roads and towers, but with the collective consciousness understanding that they are ‘ludic zones’. Perez also describes formless and informal ‘ludic zones’ where instincts for play are used in more creative and illusive ways.

“Formlessness can also exert intense ludic curiosity. The adventure playground draws inspiration from it, in its quest for transforming – as in a puzzle – the initial chaos into an ordered cosmos.” (Perez, 2018.)

Tactical Play Interventions

Lefebvre believed that play represents a ‘spatial and temporal inversion of the everyday.’ Areas of play have heightened aspects of ‘everyday occurrences, the act of play represents an attitude towards the future and the past. In its repetition, play can become an exercise that reinforces a

Figure 5: Childrens Games - Pieter Bruegel - 1560

utopian vision of urbanism. Lefebvre describes play as being: “non-exploitative and nonhierarchi cal. Play is subversive of social order and the mythologies which sustain it.” (Stevens, 2007)

How can cities promote these inversions of space and time in an urban setting that is held in a state of compulsive consumerism? Johan Huzinga stated that there are two options for confront ing reality:

1. Seek alternative to reality in play

2. Seek to change reality with play

The difficulty of changing reality with play is that the ‘seriousness’ tends to be too powerful. Iain Borden, (an architectural historian from the Bartlett School of Architecture) supplies Thirteen Tactics for a Playful City including “objects, insertions, spaces, practices, ideas and emotions” that can re-institute play into urban settings:

Temporalities - Connecting with Lefebvre’s ideas of play ‘inverting and intensifying’ everyday life, the places for play in the city offer opportunities for the mind to be transformed by unusual temporal shifts.

Performance - Art is an avenue of play that considers imprints that are ‘non-serious’. The human imprint can only be allowed in the city in places of play.

Media - rather than being a tool for the dissemination of commercial preachings, play spaces can be used for gossip, comedy, journalism and banter.

Remembering - Following from Lefebvre’s ideas about the power of cities as bastions of percep tion, play areas can be somber, featuring statues, monuments and relics of the past.

Quietude - Borden posits that often the most important and playful objects in cities are the common ones. “benches, ledges, walkways, simple squares” and architecture that doesn’t loudly proclaim it’s presence. The ‘quiet’ architecture sets the stage for play by being inviting and unin timidating.

Uncertainty and Risk - Borden argues that as cities become more anodyne and devoid of risk, the ability for play is diminished. Spaces, where users are engaged with a challenge, allows for growth.

Provisional Identities - Play allows for the suspension of conventional classifications. In play the individual needn’t sustain the labels of race, nationality or creed.

Fluidity - The ‘serious’ boundaries of cities demarcating public and private, work and play are also dissolved in the act of play.

Interventions - Borden argues that architecture ‘tends towards colonialisation and domination. However, with the through the program of play, spaces can become truly open and democratic. Play - “Play is serious fun”. Urban spaces shouldn’t just be the instruments of work, tourism and commerce.

Active Health - The body needs movement.

Active Thinking - The body needs novel engagement, provocation and thought.

Emotions - Urban spaces needn’t always be logical, nor can they be. Humans are creatures of impulse, whimsy and sympathy.

Aldo Van Eyck - Use of unused ‘interstitial’ lots

To consider the city is to encounter ourselves. To encounter the city is to rediscover the child. If the child rediscovers the city, the city will rediscover the child –ourselves. (Van Eyck, 2008 [1962]:25).

Aldo Van Eyck designed hundreds of playgrounds in the Netherlands between 1947 and 1978. He primarily used ‘interstitial sites’ that were left over as industry in the inner cities became primar ily residential. Eyck believed play should be built into the city so thoroughly as to disappear like lamp posts, benches and sidewalks.(Stutzin, 2015.) Eyck viewed the playground as a political tool, as he saw the modernist creations of business districts and private sub-division as forces that would destroy the civic fabric of Dutch cities.

In the design of his playgrounds, Eyck used traditional and simple ‘functionalist’ methods of con struction. However, the concrete, steel and earthwork became sandpits, tumbling bars, stepping stones, chutes and hemispheric jungle gyms.

Van Eyck consciously designed the equipment in a very minimalist way, to stimulate the imagina tion of the users (the children), the idea being that they could appropriate the space by its open ness to interpretation. (Demerjin, 2013.)

Figure 6 & 7 - Condition of unused site in Amsterdam and One of Aldo Van Eyck’s Amsterdam playgrounds - 1947

Isamu Noguchi - Playscapes

In the world of fine art, sculpture’s function is to be viewed from an appropriate distance and en joyed for it’s beauty. Much like the sculptural and expressive modern architecture used for office buildings, theatres and museums, the sculptural nature is often seen as a marker for commercial power and wealth. Noguchi seeked to invert this and wanted sculpture to be something interac tive. His ambition was for the “reintegration of the arts towards some purposeful and social end” (Larrivee, 2011.)

Noguchi’s visionary work consisted of self-contained sculptures, play-sets and earthwork, that aimed for a sense of wonder and physical engagement with the user.

Figure 8 & 9 - Moerenuma Park designed by Isamu Noguchi

Bernard Tschumi - The Architectural Folly

In response to a design competition held in 1982-83 for Parc de La Villette, Bernard Tschumi sought to challenge the conceptions of large-scale park design. Other entries focused on planting, walkways and landscape, whereas Tschumi developed a self-referenced grid and at the intersec tions placed large architectural follies. Tschumi’s concepts come from the schools of Post-modern deconstructivism, where elements of traditional construction are re-imagined and put in place without an intended program. His work focuses on ‘elevation’ and circumscription and, in the de sign of the park, “ he envisioned a place of culture where natural and artificial are forced together into a state of constant reconfiguration and discovery.” (Souza, 2011.)

The architectural folly in history are buildings placed in landscapes that are open and imitate classical stylings. Follies are non-sensical in the sense that they are purposeless. However much like a playground, a folly’s aim is to ignite the sense of possibility and creativity in the user, by not supplying a program the instinct for play is enabled.

Figure 10 & 11: Parc de La Villette - Bernard Tschumi - 1982

Superkilin - Coppenhagen - Topotek 1 + BIG Architects + Superflex - Urban Intervention

With the fusion of disciplines between masterplanning, sculpture, landscape design and archi tecture, Superkiln represents a true urban intervention based on play. The half-mile long area is in the centre of Coppenhagen and reclaims city streets. The area reclaims the space for purely pedestrian thoroughfare with consideration for all ages, cultures and play-styles.

The use of color and material mark the relationships to existing facades, demolished areas and programs. The planning also engages with amenity, connections to transport, cultural locations and historical curtilage. The designers understood the mixture of ‘fluid’ and regimented play, this is shown in their use of nodes and lines. Bike lanes, sports courts, and pedestrian areas are all laid out according to safety regulations as well as to create relationships and maximising opportuni ties for interaction and engagement with the ‘edges’.

Figure 12 & 13: SuperKilin - Topotek 1 + BIG Architects + Superflex

ASHFIELD RESERVOIR, ASHBURY NEW SOUTH WALES

Figure 14: Sydney Zoomed Out

The studio brief for ‘Don’t Touch Much’ gave the option of two types of site: One being unused sites with Heritage water systems, featuring large elevated steel reservoirs and defunct RSL’s (Returned and Services League). These sites were identified for being under-utilised in sub urban areas of Sydney. For this thesis, the site of Ashfield reservoir was selected.

Ashfield Reservoir is a site developed in the inter-war period. The construction of sub urbs required water supplies, and before modern pipe systems were developed, suburbs relied on reservoirs to store the water coming from the Nepean River Dam. As the water systems with pumping and modern plumbing were developed, Ashfield reservoir became unused. However, the design philosophy involved in the construction of these elevated steel reservoirs made them considered heritage curtilage. It is built in a Federation Free Classical architectural style.

The site is included on the State Heritage Register (SHR) of Sydney as being a ‘significant’ fabric for Ashbury. The Reservoir represents civic pride, as the designers intended to establish a sense of urban development through aesthetic consideration. It is a symbol of Sydney’s growing infrastructure and a cultural philosophy that promotes beauty with function. The reservoir fea tures a steel structure, supporting the riveted steel tank. Superfluous concrete columns wrap the bottom half, with cornice detailing around the arches and classical architraves.

The boldness of Ashfield Reservoir, prominent skyline and detailing features landmark qualities, shows pride of its designers and demonstrates that the arrival of such structures within a community was regarded as a matter of achievement and ma terial progress. (Extent, 2018.)

The site also features auxiliary buildings for administration, City tunnel access, storage sheds and a water pumping station. However, these elements are not presented as being of her itage significance. This thesis will demolish the auxiliary buildings and engage with the reservoir. With the research of play and the relevant tactics for play intervention in mind, design develop ment considers the approach of limiting the interference with the heritage fabric, while enhanc ing the site to engage a civic agenda.

4. DESIGN PROPOSAL

Figure 16: Existing Site Axonometric

Removing Fabric - The proposal involves the demolition of the auxillary buildings on site and the recycling of steel and brick for earth-work and rock climbing wall structure.

Reservoir as terminal and datum - The design uses the reservoir as a datum and planning focal point for the site. Areas are spread across the site in 6 sectors. The reservoir serves as a meeting point, spatial reference and entry way to the surrounding 5 sectors. The sectors are each engaged with the following strategies.

Follies - timber and concrete structures using traditional Australian construction techniques are situated to provide ‘buddies’ to the reservoir. As buddies they compliment, but don’t overpower the scale of the reservoir and offer unique prospects to the surrounds. The follies represent a ‘non-sensical’ program, and thus the user can negotiate their function.

Caves - These spaces aim to provide exploration play. With dramatic light and natural shape, they offer refuge and solace. The user can escape into their imagination in the shade, whilst always having a view to the light.

Open Areas - Markings for games, and ludic zones open for social play and contests.

Landscape - By exaggerating the flat site, the user can gain prospect, the user can form impromp tu ampitheatres, play rolly polly or climb up and down.

Amenities - The site offers large, accessible toilets, plant rooms and storage for the facilities.

SITE LEGEND:

1. Hallway - Play sculpture 2. Artifical Turf Field - Open Space 3 - Caves/Mounds/Follies - Observation tower built into landscape 4.Steel support for Rock-Climbing wall and new roof of Reservoir 5. Sand-Pit - Open Space 6. Caves/Mounds/Follies - Exploration caves with climbing tower and slide

Site Description - This proposal is a landscape project and playground. The design aims to create an extension of Peace Park and blend into the scale of the neighbourhood. Playscapes, Follies and landscapes are modeled after my own childhood memories of play, and the princliples from the previous case studies. As well as traditional playground equipment, i.e swings, slides and sand-pits, the proposal includes spaces for interpretation. Situationist practices such as parkour, drifting, performances and civil congregation are supported. The reservoir has been minimally ‘touched’ with the perimeter steel supports being removed to extend the stucture to support a 20 meter rock climbing wall. The proposed materials are commonly sourced and recycled where possible. Formed concrete for the caves, eartworks for the landscape, brick and timber con struction for the follies and shelters. Follies also use residential claddings of corrugation and tile shingles

A

A B B Figure 18: 1:500 Proposed Site @A3

5. CONCLUSION

The world at once present and absent which the spectacle makes visible is the world of the commodity dominating all that is l ived. And the world of the commodity is thus shown as it is, because its movement is identical to the estrangement of men among themselves and vis-a-vis their global product. (Debord, 1967.)

As the condition of cities becomes increasingly contaminated with commercial impera tives driven by a post-capitalist economic system, the ability for true civic engagment is limited. Modern western cities formed for the basis of economic production face a bigger hurdle than older cities. The historical fabric of cities present the user with a connection to tradition beyond consumerism. The aim of this thesis is to argue for the ability of ‘play’ as a concept and architec tural intervention to combat the ills of the ‘spectacle’. The integrity of the individual is compro mised when their agency is coopted by the need to present their image as part of a ever-hungrier system of production. Play presents a suspension of the symptoms of these systems, as it allows the user the freedom to navigate the function of spaces around them.

The site of Ashfield reservoir serves as an example of a defunct and disconnected area of a modern citie’s suburbs that would benefit from a civic agenda. This thesis will be a part of my ongoing expression of a form of play. As long as I practice architecture in the ‘serious’ world, I will always keep my childhood in mind and design spaces that I would have wanted to play in.

ROCK

Figure 24 & 25: Exterior Renders

Figure 26-27: Site Moments

1:50 Model of Caves,Mounds Follies and Rock Climbing Wall

Figure 28-32: Model Photographs

1:300 Site Model - Blue proposed - White Existing

References

Aldo. Aldo van Eyck: Writings (Vol. 1): Collected Articles and Other Writings 1947- 1998. Edited by Vincent Ligtelijn and Francis Strauven. Ámsterdam: sun, 2008.

Arce, Rodrigo Pérez de. City of Play: An Architectural and Urban History of Recreation and Leisure. London: Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2018.

Aziz, Nor Fadzila, and Ismail Said. “The Trends and Influential Factors of Children’s Use of Outdoor Environments: A Review.” Asian Journal of Environment-Behaviour Studies 2, no. 5 (2017): 97–108. Borden, Iain. Tactics for a Playful City. 2007.

Brown, Stuart. Play : How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul. Carlton North, Vic., Australia: Scribe Publications, 2010.

Butler, Chris. Henri Lefebvre : Spatial Politics, Everyday Life and the Right to the City. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2012.

Debord, Guy. The Society of the Spectacle. New York: Zone Books, 1967.

Debord, Guy. “Theory of the Drive.” Bureau of Public Secrets. 1958.

Demerijn. “Aldo Van Eyck and the City as Playground.” MO, March 16, 2018. https://merijnoude nampsen.org/2013/03/27/aldo-van-eyck-and-the-city-as-playground/.

Extent Heritage Advisors. “Ashfield Reservoir - Subdivision and Curtilage Adjustment Statement of Heritage Impact” October 2018.

Gray, Peter. “Hunter-Gatherers and Play.” Scholarpedia. 2012. http://www.scholarpedia.org/arti cle/Hunter-Gatherers_and_Play.

Huizinga, Johan. Homo Ludens : a Study of the Play-Element in Culture. London: Routledge & K. Paul, 1949.

Khan, Matluba, Simon Bell, and Jenny Wood. Place, Pedagogy and Play : Participation, Design and Research with Children. Edited by Matluba Khan, Simon Bell, and Jenny Wood. Abingdon, Oxon ; Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2021.

Lefebvre, Henri, and Henri Lefebvre. Le droit à la ville ; suivi de, Espace et politique. Paris: Anthro pos, 1974.

Sánchez, Daniel. “Superkilen / Topotek 1 + Big Architects + Superflex.” ArchDaily. ArchDaily, Oc

tober 25, 2012. https://www.archdaily.com/286223/superkilen-topotek-1-big-architects-superflex?ad_ source=search&ad_medium=projects_tab.

Shaina D. Larrivee Playscapes: Isamu Noguchi’s Designs for Play, Public Art Dialogue, 2011. Souza, Eduardo. “Ad Classics: Parc De La Villette / Bernard Tschumi Architects.” ArchDaily. ArchDai ly, January 9, 2011. https://www.archdaily.com/92321/ad-classics-parc-de-la-villette-bernard-tschumi

Stevens, Quentin. The Ludic City: Exploring the Potential of Public Spaces. Florence: Routledge, 2007.

Stutzin, Nicolás. “Políticas Del Playground: Los Espacios De Juego De Robert Moses y Aldo Van Eyck.” ARQ (Santiago), no. 91 (2015): 32–39.

Image References

Figure 1-2: Self-generated

Figure 3: Tsutomu Nihei - BLAME!

Figure 4. https://www.all-creatures.org/stories/a-polar.html - Image taken by Norbert Rosing

Figure 5: Painting by Pieter Gubriel - 1560

Figure 6 & 7: https://merijnoudenampsen.org/2013/03/27/aldo-van-eyck-and-the-city-as-playground/ Figure 8 & 9: https://www.therealjapan.com/tetra-mound-in-incredible-moerenuma-park-sapporo/

Figure 10 & 11: https://www.archdaily.com/92321/ad-classics-parc-de-la-villette-bernard-tschumi Figure 12 & 13: https://www.archdaily.com/286223/superkilen-topotek-1-big-architects-superflex

Figure 14-32: Self-generated