After making the many different creative industries out there take games seriously (and subsequently sort of regretting the consequences) Playful was back this year and decided to look towards the future. Ever since I presented there in 2008 this has probably been my favorite event of the year. So I returned after a much-regretted hiatus [...]
Tag Archives: play
Occupy the future at Playful 2011
Posted in Thoughts Also tagged conferences, futures, games, innovation, playful, science fiction Comments closed
Pools connected to playgrounds
I am preoccupied by the ways play and games connect to the physical form of cities. Here’s one way to look at it: architects are influenced by the surprising new uses of existing constructions. For example, there’s a connection between a swimming pool like this one… Photo (cc) Mallix …and this playground designed by Carve [...]
Posted in Thoughts Also tagged architecture, playgrounds, skateparks, swimming pools, transformations Comments closed
“New ideas must use old buildings”
The other day I had dinner at a radio-station that was turned into a restaurant. My favorite events venue in Amsterdam used to be a printing press. And friends of mine are turning a massive sports hall into creative work spaces. The uses buildings were intended for, and what they’re actually used for, vary greatly. [...]
Posted in Thoughts Also tagged adaptation, architecture, cities, creativity, Jane Jacobs, law, politics, reuse, Stewart Brand, Vacant NL Comments closed
Speaking at dConstruct 2011
I am really pleased to be speaking at dConstruct this year. I’ve attended the conference myself several times and always enjoy the well-curated program and the good things offered by the event’s home, lovely Brighton. You’ll find the abstract I submitted below. Have a look at the conference site for the rest of the program [...]
Posted in Upcoming Also tagged adaptation, brighton, cities, clearleft, conferences, dconstruct, reuse, Talks Comments closed
New Games for New Cities at FutureEverything
Last week I was in Manchester for FutureEverything. I presented on games and how they can be used to improve city life. Below are my notes and a selection of slides. It’s longish, but hopefully informative. I’ve tried to connect criticism of gamification with the virtues of open-ended play, and show how the latter can [...]
Posted in Talks Also tagged cities, citymagic, executive function, games, gamification, pervasive games, self-regulation, strangers, urban games, urbanism Comments closed
Looking back on playful Tweetakt 2011
I’ve just uploaded a set of photos taken at the opening of the playful Tweetakt 2011 exhibition. As you may recall, I was asked to curate an interactive addition to this youth theatre festival. The works I selected are in my opinion all wonderful examples of the way play can lead to performance. Each was [...]
Posted in Projects Also tagged art, events, exhibitions, festivals, games, installations, interaction design, performance, theatre, This happened, This happened – Utrecht, Tweetakt Comments closed
“The opposite of play isn’t work…”
RANJ created a game that makes work in flower farming greenhouses more fun. The game plugs into the data being gathered there already, allowing workers to train their skills at spotting sick plants. In addition, they attempted to increase social interaction between Dutch and Polish workers by asking them to collectively answer a quiz or [...]
“Personality goes a long way”
Earlier this year Dutch artist Tinkebell stood trial together with the director of a gallery for the alleged torturing of animals. She’d created an artwork involving a little under a hundred hamsters in so-called hamsterballs. According to her it was a commentary on the many people on YouTube posting video’s of their pets in these [...]
Posted in Thoughts Also tagged animals, Buta, ethics, games, hamsterballs, hamsters, pigs, Pulp Fiction, Tinkebell Comments closed
Hack days as ludic practice
It was at DiGRA that I first heard Eric Zimmerman talk about the idea of this being a ludic age. We’re in the period that follows the information age, which we’ve more or less left behind. In the ludic age, says Zimmerman, “information itself is put at play”.1 What does that mean? It can’t just [...]