Future Interactive Playful spaces

Creativeworks London Creative Entrepreneur-in-Residence Tine Bech and Clive Holtham at Cass Business School, City University London have investigated how ludic participatory (public) spaces can help organisations innovate. Informed by research into play theory and future cities Tine developed an event around space and knowledge, a crucial issue for the school in the light of its strategy looking for significant improvements in its physical estate. For one evening participants travelled into the future of 21st Century knowledge spaces. At the event titled SPACE 2050 – Seeing and Seers, participants were the masters of illumination – our future learners and researchers. Their mission was to record and share their knowledge of enlightened power to help re-imagine our future learning and research spaces, by wearing changeable lights they sent illuminating messages back in time to help year 2016 envision their 21st-century education space.

The interactive participatory event was a new approach to exploring space – an antidote to our standard forms of data collection. For example a player commented ‘I really enjoyed the active and playful approach to thinking about learning, and learning spaces of the future – a refreshing and stimulating alternative to sitting in a room with a pile of post-its!’. SPACE 2050 is a new form of participatory interactive engagement of space – a way of exploring space to collaborate better. Another player remarked it was ‘A great way of changing one’s perspective and activating the imagination. I was surprised with the depth of our ideas and my detailed visualization of the future!’ This activity made 2050 super tangible.

Image: SPACE 2050 – Seeing and Seers event held on 28th January 2016.