CONTACT URBANISM, Play as Creative Driver in Spatial Design Practice

At a time when increasingly communities are responding to the fears of an uncertain future by protection against, distancing from, and exclusion of the foreign, which at some point manifests in the organization of the territory, the built and the lived environment – this research works on the opposite hypothesis: how can the intensification of contact with unfamiliar situations, which is by nature destabilising, favourably stimulate spatial transformation and constitute a ground for nurturing a culture of urbanity? How does it lead us to reconsider the way we conceive architecture and the city?

This is a design-driven doctoral research grounded in the complexity of real phenomena encountered as a practising architect, urban designer, and teacher over two decades. A selection of cases where play is used as a creative engine to maintain an open and inclusive design in the face of disruption are examined through an iteration of reflecting on, reflecting in, and reflecting for practice. The research focuses on the temporal dimension of designing processes, the grounded dimension of designing situations of interaction and the role that tangible things play within such spatial settings, to identify the conditions that allow or hinder a design development to pivot to a higher level of specification.

It reveals that in the liminal state of contact, giving space to play, in its different significations, enables us to apprehend divergent positions and to stimulate a profound transformation in the way we perceive and shape our living environment. Understanding the creative potential of play to cope with disruptions and to engage in a shared environment with the other, human and non-human, leads to the development of a conceptual framework and practice of urban and architectural design that considers the transformation of space as a dynamic system of relations. The framework of dynamic spatiality intertwines situatedness, pluralistic representations and actions in time, into one irreducible entity. Specific instruments, protocols of action and relational objects and techniques of staging, rhythm and providing grip are implemented in spatial design practice to do both, engage projects while remaining sensitive to fluctuating conditions. Architecture thereby proves to be a means for creating situations from where urbanity can be practised, and transformations can occur.

Keywords:  Contact, Creativity, Design Driven Research Practice, Dynamic Space, Ecosophy, Embodiment, Enaction, Play, Relational Design, Rhythm, Situatedness, Spatial Affordances, Spatial Triad, Tacit Knowledge.