Urban Play

Urban Play PDF Author: Fabio Duarte
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262362260
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
Why technology is most transformative when it is playful, and innovative spatial design happens only when designers are both tinkerers and dreamers. In Urban Play, Fábio Duarte and Ricardo Álvarez argue that the merely functional aspects of technology may undermine its transformative power. Technology is powerful not when it becomes optimally functional, but while it is still playful and open to experimentation. It is through play--in the sense of acting for one's own enjoyment rather than to achieve a goal--that we explore new territories, create new devices and languages, and transform ourselves. Only then can innovative spatial design create resonant spaces that go beyond functionalism to evoke an emotional response in those who use them. The authors show how creativity emerges in moments of instability, when a new technology overthrows an established one, or when internal factors change a technology until it becomes a different technology. Exploring the role of fantasy in design, they examine Disney World and its outsize influence on design and on forms of social interaction beyond the entertainment world. They also consider Las Vegas and Dubai, desert cities that combine technology with fantasies of pleasure and wealth. Video games and interactive media, they show, infuse the design process with interactivity and participatory dynamics, leaving spaces open to variations depending on the users' behavior. Throughout, they pinpoint the critical moments when technology plays a key role in reshaping how we design and experience spaces.

Spaces to Play

Spaces to Play PDF Author: Alison Clark
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
ISBN: 1907969241
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 128

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Book Description
Spaces to Play explains how to use innovative Mosaic approach with young children to ensure their perspectives are the starting point when planning planning outdoor environments in early years provision. An ideal companion to the bestselling introduction, Listening to Young Children: The Mosaic approach, Spaces to Play draws on the findings of a pilot study which used the approach to listen to young children's views and experiences of their outdoor environment, and used the findings to to inform change. It describes how to adapt the Mosaic approach to work in outdoor spaces, demonstrates young children's competencies in expressing their perspectives and explores the links between listening and learning. The book also outlines the challenges and future directions for practitioners and researchers in listening to young children.

Urban Play

Urban Play PDF Author: Fabio Duarte
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262362260
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
Why technology is most transformative when it is playful, and innovative spatial design happens only when designers are both tinkerers and dreamers. In Urban Play, Fábio Duarte and Ricardo Álvarez argue that the merely functional aspects of technology may undermine its transformative power. Technology is powerful not when it becomes optimally functional, but while it is still playful and open to experimentation. It is through play--in the sense of acting for one's own enjoyment rather than to achieve a goal--that we explore new territories, create new devices and languages, and transform ourselves. Only then can innovative spatial design create resonant spaces that go beyond functionalism to evoke an emotional response in those who use them. The authors show how creativity emerges in moments of instability, when a new technology overthrows an established one, or when internal factors change a technology until it becomes a different technology. Exploring the role of fantasy in design, they examine Disney World and its outsize influence on design and on forms of social interaction beyond the entertainment world. They also consider Las Vegas and Dubai, desert cities that combine technology with fantasies of pleasure and wealth. Video games and interactive media, they show, infuse the design process with interactivity and participatory dynamics, leaving spaces open to variations depending on the users' behavior. Throughout, they pinpoint the critical moments when technology plays a key role in reshaping how we design and experience spaces.

The Power of Play

The Power of Play PDF Author: Dorothy Stoltz
Publisher: ALA Editions
ISBN: 9780838912553
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Don't simply accommodate families with young children—draw them in and make your library a destination!

Video Game Spaces

Video Game Spaces PDF Author: Michael Nitsche
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262293013
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description
An exploration of how we see, use, and make sense of modern video game worlds. The move to 3D graphics represents a dramatic artistic and technical development in the history of video games that suggests an overall transformation of games as media. The experience of space has become a key element of how we understand games and how we play them. In Video Game Spaces, Michael Nitsche investigates what this shift means for video game design and analysis. Navigable 3D spaces allow us to crawl, jump, fly, or even teleport through fictional worlds that come to life in our imagination. We encounter these spaces through a combination of perception and interaction. Drawing on concepts from literary studies, architecture, and cinema, Nitsche argues that game spaces can evoke narratives because the player is interpreting them in order to engage with them. Consequently, Nitsche approaches game spaces not as pure visual spectacles but as meaningful virtual locations. His argument investigates what structures are at work in these locations, proceeds to an in-depth analysis of the audiovisual presentation of gameworlds, and ultimately explores how we use and comprehend their functionality. Nitsche introduces five analytical layers—rule-based space, mediated space, fictional space, play space, and social space—and uses them in the analyses of games that range from early classics to recent titles. He revisits current topics in game research, including narrative, rules, and play, from this new perspective. Video Game Spaces provides a range of necessary arguments and tools for media scholars, designers, and game researchers with an interest in 3D game worlds and the new challenges they pose.

The Science of Play

The Science of Play PDF Author: Susan G. Solomon
Publisher: University Press of New England
ISBN: 1611686113
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 231

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Book Description
Poor design and wasted funding characterize today's American playgrounds. A range of factors--including a litigious culture, overzealous safety guidelines, and an ethos of risk aversion--have created uniform and unimaginative playgrounds. These spaces fail to nurture the development of children or promote playgrounds as an active component in enlivening community space. Solomon's book demonstrates how to alter the status quo by allying data with design. Recent information from the behavioral sciences indicates that kids need to take risks; experience failure but also have a chance to succeed and master difficult tasks; learn to plan and solve problems; exercise self-control; and develop friendships. Solomon illustrates how architects and landscape architects (most of whom work in Europe and Japan) have already addressed these needs with strong, successful playground designs. These innovative spaces, many of which are more multifunctional and cost effective than traditional playgrounds, are both sustainable and welcoming. Having become vibrant hubs within their neighborhoods, these play sites are models for anyone designing or commissioning an urban area for children and their families. The Science of Play, a clarion call to use playground design to deepen the American commitment to public space, will interest architects, landscape architects, urban policy makers, city managers, local politicians, and parents.

Children's Play Spaces

Children's Play Spaces PDF Author: Marguerite Rouard
Publisher: Overlook Books
ISBN:
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Book Description


Inspiring Play Spaces

Inspiring Play Spaces PDF Author: Susie Rosback
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 147291337X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 81

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Book Description
Written to meet the requirements of the EYFS, this book demonstrates a whole range of ways in which different spaces can be instigated and set up in response to children's interests. It is perfect for practitioners looking for new ways to present equipment and new ideas to create beautiful play spaces, which can be executed or set up in a variety of ways at little or no cost.

Inspiring Spaces for Young Children

Inspiring Spaces for Young Children PDF Author: Jessica DeViney
Publisher: Gryphon House Incorporated
ISBN: 9780876593172
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The classroom environment is an essential component for maximizing learning experiences for young children. "Inspiring Spaces for Young Children "invites teachers to enhance children's educational environment in a beautiful way by emphasizing aesthetic environmental qualities that are often overlooked in early childhood classrooms, such as nature, color, furnishings, textures, displays, lighting, and focal points. Step-by-step instructions and lush photographs take educators through the process of transforming ordinary classrooms into creative, beautiful learning spaces, providing children with an environment where they can learn and grow. With easy-to-implement ideas that incorporate nature, children's artwork, and everyday classroom materials, the photographs and ideas in this book promote creativity, learning, and simple beauty.

The City at Eye Level

The City at Eye Level PDF Author: Meredith Glaser
Publisher: Eburon Uitgeverij B.V.
ISBN: 9059727142
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
Although rarely explored in academic literature, most inhabitants and visitors interact with an urban landscape on a day-to-day basis is on the street level. Storefronts, first floor apartments, and sidewalks are the most immediate and common experience of a city. These "plinths" are the ground floors that negotiate between inside and outside, the public and private spheres. The City at Eye Level qualitatively evaluates plinths by exploring specific examples from all over the world. Over twenty-five experts investigate the design, land use, and road and foot traffic in rigorously researched essays, case studies, and interviews. These pieces are supplemented by over two hundred beautiful color images and engage not only with issues in design, but also the concerns of urban communities. The editors have put together a comprehensive guide for anyone concerned with improving or building plinths, including planners, building owners, property and shop managers, designers, and architects.

Nature Play at Home

Nature Play at Home PDF Author: Nancy Striniste
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 1604698969
Category : House & Home
Languages : en
Pages : 644

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Book Description
“A magnificent resource for transforming backyards into stimulating environments which enhance children’s creativity, learning, and fun.” —Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, The Nature Principle, and Vitamin N Access to technology has created a generation of children who are more plugged in than ever before—often with negative consequences. But there is a solution. Unrestricted outdoor play helps reduce stress, improve health, and enhance creativity, learning, and attention span. In Nature Play at Home, Nancy Striniste gives you the tools you need to make outdoor adventures possible in your own backyard. With hundreds of inspiring ideas and illustrated, step-by-step projects, this hardworking book details how to create playspaces that use natural materials—like logs, boulders, sand, water, and plants of all kinds. Projects include hillside slides, seating circles, sand pits, and more.