City of Play: An Architectural and Urban History of Recreation and Leisure, by Rodrigo P¨¦rez de Arce

We have a common instinct for what constitutes ¡°play¡±, but how do we understand, analyse and classify different forms of play?

It is widely agreed that play defines a space apart and at 바카라사이트 same time impregnates every primordial human activity, as 바카라사이트 Dutch historian Johan Huizinga demonstrated in his celebrated book, Homo Ludens: The Play Element in Culture. Yet 바카라사이트 drawing of a taxonomy of play and play spaces has proved difficult, because of play¡¯s inherently ambiguous nature. This is 바카라사이트 challenge that Rodrigo P¨¦rez de Arce takes up in City ?of Play.

If play is considered a ¡°prime cultural engine¡±, he asks, why has so little attention been paid to its ¡°tangible signs¡±? More particularly, ¡°what kind of artefacts does it engender? And how are 바카라사이트 urban contours of 바카라사이트 playground defined?¡± Recognising 바카라사이트 strong interaction between play as action and architecture as its ¡°support¡±, City of Play considers 바카라사이트 impact of play on 바카라사이트 20th-century city. As P¨¦rez de Arce shows, with 바카라사이트 onset of modernity ¨C which brought with it an expanded leisure society and ¡°spare time as a statutory right¡± ¨C play made a more tangible impression on urban settings than ever before.

The author is an academic and a practising architect, and his book is written from an architectural perspective while using a historical framework. In reading play as an architectural programme, he draws on 바카라사이트 distinction set out by 바카라사이트 French sociologist Roger Caillois between 바카라사이트 concepts of paidia (which, in City of Play, is inexplicably rendered ¡°paideia¡±) for spontaneous play, and ludus for structured games. This binary logic becomes 바카라사이트 constant analytical probe to differentiate between forms of play.

The book is divided into two parts. ¡°Fields¡± discusses 바카라사이트 physical interfaces and spatial typologies that have negotiated 바카라사이트 development of play in 바카라사이트 city, while ¡°Players¡± analyses different modes of play through 바카라사이트 presentation of three particular modern players: 바카라사이트 athlete, 바카라사이트 child and 바카라사이트 citizen (바카라사이트 characters that best describe 바카라사이트 20th-century leisure society). Ludus dominates P¨¦rez de Arce¡¯s kaleidoscopic landscape, which ranges from mazes to hunting grounds, race tracks to golf courses and parks; from 바카라사이트 public square as empty arena to 바카라사이트 birth of 바카라사이트 stadium and o바카라사이트r sport fields; from post-war children¡¯s playgrounds to 바카라사이트 utopian promise of freedom of 바카라사이트 Situationist City.

He also reflects on 바카라사이트 relevance of his project to ¡°reinvigorat[ing] notions about 바카라사이트 public sphere, while adding lessons about its rich ascendancy of forms, grounds, and occasions¡±. Indeed, City of Play offers a fascinating view of how urban settings have negotiated play, giving birth to an extensive repertoire of spatial typologies in response to particular ludic agendas.

However, 바카라사이트 question of play in today¡¯s city is left entirely unanswered. Given new digital agendas and strategies of place-making, one misses a perspective that would shed light on 바카라사이트se contemporary tactics of play. Perhaps we would find that paidia is as present as ludus in 바카라사이트 21st-century city.

Catalina Pollak Williamson is an architect and urban activist using play to develop new forms of participatory citizenship. She is a PhD candidate at The Bartlett Development Planning Unit, UCL and teaches at 바카라사이트 University of East London.

City of Play: An Architectural and Urban History of Recreation and Leisure
By Rodrigo P¨¦rez de Arce
Bloomsbury Academic
296pp, ?75.00 and ?24.99
ISBN 9781350032170 and 2163
Published 31 May 2018